Thousands of people packed the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to pray for President Donald Trump, law enforcement, an end to abortion and more.
The National Prayer March was led by Rev. Franklin Graham, a conservative evangelical and Trump supporter, in downtown Washington on Saturday.
The march—which stretched from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol—took place just a few hours before the president announced he was nominating Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative judge and devout Catholic, for the Supreme Court.
"Father, our country is in trouble. We need your help," Graham said at one point during the event, according to NBC4. "We pray today specifically for the President Donald J. Trump."
It was amazing to see the crowd of people who came to Washington, D.C., from all across the country to pray for our nation and our leaders. pic.twitter.com/O4VFZoRxPn
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) September 26, 2020
On Twitter, Graham wrote: "We're praying for our leaders & for hearts in our nation to turn back to God."
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), which organized the march, said tens of thousands of people had attended the Saturday's event.
On its website, organizers wrote the event is a "dedicated prayer march that is focused solely on asking God to heal our land." They added: "It is not a protest or political event, and we are asking participants to not bring signs in support of any candidate or party."
Nevertheless, politics featured prominently at the march and some attendees were pictured wearing shirts and other items showing their support for Trump.
According to the Associated Press, some in the crowd wore red caps with the words "Let's Make America Godly Again" written on them—a play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. Few in the crowd were seen wearing masks, despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Vice President Mike Pence was among several speakers who addressed the crowd from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He asked the crowd to pray for the "remarkable woman" Trump was nominating to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death last week.
Later, attendees stopped at several sites around the National Mall, where they were asked to silently pray on specific issues.
At the Washington Monument, the focus of the prayer was "communities and families, an end to abortion, and salvation of the lost," according to the BGEA.
By the World War Two memorial, the prayer was for "military, police and law enforcement, and their families—and peace in our nation." Outside the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the BGEA asked attendees to pray for "national reconciliation."
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has been contacted for additional comment.
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Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on abortion rights, race, education, ... Read more
