Franklin Graham, the controversial founder of the Samaritan's Purse charity known for his strident anti-Islam views, has said that he is "sick of hearing about Islam".
However, he wrote in a Facebook post, "it is a very real threat to the world and to our security here at home".
Graham was writing in the context of a debate on Tuesday between Republican party candidates for the presidential nomination at which Islam was one of the themes.
Donald Trump had sparked widespread outrage with his view that all Muslim entry to the US should be banned, a view Graham had previously expressed. He wrote in support of Trump: "For some time I have been saying that Muslim immigration into the United States should be stopped until we can properly vet them or until the war with Islam is over."
His incendiary remarks were widely denounced, including by a number of his fellow candidates. Jeb Bush branded Trump "unhinged" while Lindsey Graham accused him of being "downright dangerous".
In Tuesday's debate Bush was asked to expand on his characterisation of Trump. "Donald, you know, is great at the one-liners. And he's a chaos candidate but he'd be a chaos president," Bush said.
"He would not be the commander in chief we need to keep our country safe."
In his Facebook post Graham said that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats could save the US from Islam: "The Bible says that there is only one—Almighty God. 'The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold'" (Psalm 18:2).
His post was shared more than 93,000 times.
