Franklin Graham: God put Trump in office

Evangelist Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, says he thanks God that Donald Trump was elected president.

Following are two excerpts from a short Associated Press video in which Franklin Graham said he doesn't think Trump came to be president "by mistake or by happenstance."

"I think somehow God put him in this position. Because he's not a politician, he seemed to do everything wrong as a politician: he offended many people, did the wrong things – but somehow he became president. And I just have to think that God, in some reason, put him there for a purpose. I don't know what that is, but we need to get behind him and support him."

Graham gave a measured answer when asked how the president's behavior – as well as accusations Trump had an affair with a porn star – square with his new book's (Through My Father's Eyes) admonishment against profanity and pornography.

"I don't have concern, in a sense, because these things happened many years ago – and there's such bigger problems in front of us as a nation that we need to be dealing with than other things in his life a long time ago. I think some of these things – that's for him and his wife to deal with. I think when the country went after President Clinton, the Republicans, that was a great mistake that should never have happened. And I think this thing with Stormy Daniels and so forth is nobody's business. And we've got other business at hand that we need to deal with."

"On this thing with Stormy Daniels and so forth: This stuff happened 12 years ago. This isn’t behavior that has taken place since he’s been president. These things happened long before he became president. That doesn’t make it right. And I don’t defend those kinds of relationships he had. But the country knew the kind of person he was back then, and they still made the decision to make him the president of the United States." 

Watch the entire video from The Associated Press: 

More from Associated Press:

"Unfortunately this progressive movement is more prevalent right now in the Democratic Party, but it’s also in the Republican Party," Franklin said. "And it’s growing. And this is a very dangerous thing. I was a Republican and I went independent -- I just got sick of all of them and didn’t want to be beholden to any group."