Donald Trump's evangelical supporters have largely been conspicuous by their absence in the aftermath of the Charlottesville tragedy, where white supremacists and neo-Nazis marched through the town and one counter-protester died.
The President's response was to blame 'many sides' for the violence, a claim he reiterated at a controversial press conference on Tuesday.
In response several business leaders on Trump's manufacturing council have quit in protest.
None of those who served on Trump's evangelical advisory council during his election campaign have publicly distanced themselves from him.
Now Jerry Falwell Jnr, president of Liberty University and one of Trump's earliest and most fervent supporters, has come out in praise of how the President handled the situation.
'Finally a leader in the White House. Jobs returning, North Korea backing down, bold truthful statement about Charlottesville tragedy. So proud of Donald Trump,' Falwell Jr. tweeted.
Finally a leader in WH. Jobs returning, N Korea backing down, bold truthful stmt about #charlottesville tragedy.So proud of @realdonaldtrump
— Jerry Falwell (@JerryFalwellJr) August 16, 2017 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">Liberty University is about one hour's drive away from Charlottesville where white supremacists flocked to protest the removal of a statue to Robert E Lee, a confederate general and slave owner.
Trump's evangelicals are among the few sticking by him with a number of Republicans looking to distance themselves from the President in the wake of the crisis after he decried the 'alt-left' for their violent contributions to the weekend demonstrations.
Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas backed Trump's stance.
'Racism comes in all shapes, all sizes, and yes, all colours,' Jeffress told CBN on Tuesday.'If we're going to denounce some racism, we ought to denounce all racism.'
He went on to attack the press: 'The media, the liberals have painted a false narrative that the President is a racist, and anytime he tries to break out of that box, liberals aren't going to allow him to do it.'
Franklin Graham, another stalwart Trump supporter, decried 'shame on the politicians who are trying to push blame on President Trump for what happened in Charlottesville'.
He posted on Facebook: 'Really, this boils down to evil in people's hearts. Satan is behind it all. He wants division, he wants unrest, he wants violence and hatred. He's the enemy of peace and unity. I denounce bigotry and racism of every form, be it black, white or any other. My prayer is that our nation will come together. We are stronger together, and our answers lie in turning to God.'
