Televangelist Paula White Says President Donald Trump 'Authentically' 'Raised Up by God' (Video)

Aug 22, 2017 11:33 AM EDT

Paula White Cain, spiritual adviser to Donald Trump, has said that while the president may not be the most "polished politician", he has been "authentically raised up by God."

The 51-year-old White, who is a popular televangelist and the senior pastor at New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Florida, appeared on an episode of "The Jim Bakker Show" Monday, where she compared Trump's election with that of the Old Testament's story of Esther.

Just like Esther, a Jewish orphan, was not a likely choice to be picked to be the next queen for King Ahasuerus, the King of Persia, Trump wasn't many Americans' first choice for the role of president.

"[W]e are more impressed with a Saul anointing than a David anointing because we are more impressed with what looks right than what is right. Therefore, we choose things that we think should sound right, should act right. They say about our president, 'Well, he is not presidential.' Thank goodness. Thank goodness. Thank goodness," White said. "And I mean that will all due respect. Because in other words, he is not a polished politician. In other words, he is authentically - whether people like it or not - has been raised up by God."

"Because God says that He raises up and places all people in places of authority," she continued. "It is God who raises up a king. It is God that sets one down. When you fight against the plan of God, you are fighting against the hand of God."

White said that God is clearly "doing transition" and "raising up Esthers" for such a time as this.

"For such a time literally means that you have the ability to strike, to punish, to defeat every demonic foe because you are serving purpose the intention of God," she said. "America, enlargement, deliverance is coming...there is an awakening that is going to come globally."

White also said President Trump "loves prayer" and reminded viewers that before his election, Americans were inching closer to losing their religious freedom.

"People [need] to recognize, they don't realize how much we were on the verge of of losing what we call religious liberties," she said. "But the reality is and I believe - I am going to make bold statement that I have never made publicly - I believe that had God not divinely intervened through the church, through the church praying and through our obedience through an awakening, giving us this moment, this window and if we miss this, I believe the church in America would have been an underground church in five years."

Acknowledging some may think she's crazy for such a perspctive, White contended that there is an "enemy" that is working to "abolish and annihilate" God's will and purpose for America.

"You have to understand what was the purpose of America. What was the purpose? Not for us to slaughter babies. ... When our forefathers came over, the purpose was for us not to have a state religion. They took their crosses when they landed at Plymouth and when they walked that beach area and put their white crosses down and dedicated this land and said that it would be a lighthouse for God and send missionaries around the world so that the Gospel will be preached," White explained. "That was the original intention for this particular nation. We must take back our school systems, take back our families, take back our homes, take back our nation."

White said she's "not here to be culturally relevant" or "politically correct."

"I am not here for everybody to like me," she said. "I am here to the tell the truth. And you want to know the truth? The Gospel of Jesus Christ is offensive to the world. We are going to offend the world. Jesus offended every system of the world, every system of religion. The only persons we can't offend is each other. .... We are never to expect the world to like us because the world is going to hate you just like they hated Jesus Christ."

White, who has known President Trump for 16 years, expressed confidence in his faith in an NBC interview last year: "I know that Donald is saved," she said. "He's absolutely - received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior."

She added, "I know that he's asked for forgiveness. I know that he has sought and understands the truth of that. I understand on a much more personal level his walk. It's not something he feels comfortable ... He doesn't know our Christian-ese or language. ... But that doesn't mean he's not a man of faith."

White recalled that in 2011, while Trump was debating jumping in the 2012 presidential race, he asked pastors to pray with him: "And we prayed over him. We sat with him for about six hours. This wasn't like-- like an hour or ten minutes; it was six hours. It was an all day meeting and we prayed for hours. And we listened, we talked, we conversed and- and the next day, I called him or he called me, one ... one or the other. And he said, 'I' -- 'I don't believe it's the timing of God.'"