Franklin Graham at RNC: ‘Trump Had a Near-Death Experience, but God Spared His Life’

President and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Franklin Graham speaks duri
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Katherine Hamilton

Christian evangelist Franklin Graham spoke and led the Republican National Convention in prayer on Thursday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ahead of former President Donald Trump’s first speech since he was shot through the ear in an assassination attempt on Saturday. 

“Last Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, President Trump had a near death experience — no question. But God spared his life,” Graham said before the prayer. 

“And when we go through those experiences, it changes us. It can cause us to examine our lives and to reevaluate our priorities, as you should,” he said. 

Graham noted the moment a blood-smeared Trump emerged from a pile of Secret Service agents, showing the American people he survived an attempt on his life.

“When President Trump rose from that platform, he rose with his fist raised in strength, showing America his unshakable resolve to fight with them in the nation,” he said. “I cannot explain why God would save one life and allow another one to be taken. I don’t have an answer for that. But one thing I do know is that God loves us and he wants us to be with him in heaven one day — and that’s through faith in his Son Jesus Christ.” 

“You see, the Bible says that God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shouldn’t perish but should have everlasting life,” he continued, referencing the Bible verse John 3:16. 

Graham added that for as long as he has known Trump, he has found him “to be a man of his word.”

“Things that he said he’ll do, he did. When he told me and our country in 2016 that he was going to appoint conservative justices, guess what? He did. In 2016, he said he would defend religious liberty. And guess what? He did. In 2019, I was with him at the United Nations when the first president of history of this country stood there to advocate for religious liberty worldwide,” he said. “When American citizen and Pastor Andrew Brunson was being held in a Turkish jail on false accusations, President Trump demanded that he be released and he applied economic pressure and sanctions until they did that.” 

“I’m grateful and thankful for what he did as a 45th president of United States, and I know that as the 47th president, he will keep his word to the American people to make America great once again,” Graham concluded. 

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