Evangelical leader Rev. Franklin Graham thanked President Donald Trump Tuesday for his walk through Lafayette Park to St. John’s Episcopal Church Monday night amid the violent riots in Washington, DC.
“Thank you President Trump,” Graham posted to Facebook. “God and His Word are the only hope for our nation.”
Upon reaching St. John’s Church, along with Attorney General William Barr, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, the president held up a Bible.
Graham also quoted scripture from Hebrews 4:12 in his Facebook post:
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
“My first and highest duty as president is to defend our great country and the American people,” Trump announced at the White House before walking to the historic church where rioters lit a fire in the basement Sunday evening, partially destroying the building.
“I swore an oath to uphold the laws of our nation and that is exactly what I will do,” the president added. “We will end it now.”
Trump said he had urged governors to deploy the National Guard to curb the violence but added that if states fail to act to defend their citizens and their property, he would send in the U.S. military.