Franklin Graham is claiming fake news was around in biblical times as he defended Donald Trump's attacks on the press.

The son of evangelist Billy Graham and outspoken Trump-advocate admitted he knew several journalists and said 'some are extremely honest' but that was 'not the norm today'.

Supporting the Republican President, Graham wrote on Facebook: 'We need a free press. But we also need an honest press.'

He added: 'Lies and untruths like we have been seeing can be a threat to our democracy. I would encourage the media to do what the Bible tells us, 'You shall not circulate a false report' (Exodus 23:1), and be truthful—you can never go wrong with that.'

He went on to claim the Jewish leaders put out their own version of fake news after Jesus' resurrection.

'Fake news is nothing new—it was going on in the Bible,' he wrote.

'When Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was placed in the tomb, He said He would rise in three days. The Pharisees had guards assigned to watch the tomb, and on the third day an angel from heaven came and rolled the stone away. The Lord Jesus walked out of that tomb.

'The guards reported this to the religious leaders who instructed them that if anyone asked, they were to say that Jesus' supporters had come and taken the body. It was fake news to serve their own agenda.'

The evangelist, who now runs his father's Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, refused to endorse either candidate during the campaign but made several veiled hints at his support for Trump which has become increasingly evident.