Perry says he told the President that this posturing, which some critics took as egotistical or even blasphemous, was correct. "'Mr President . . . you said you were the chosen one'," Perry recalled saying in the Oval Office. "I said, 'You were . . . You are here in this time because God ordained you'." He noted that he believes Barack Obama was also ordained by God for the presidency. Has described himself as the chosen one: Donald Trump. Credit:Photo: AP It's a common view among some evangelical Christians. Some of Trump's loudest evangelical defenders, like Franklin Graham, often compare him to sinful but important biblical kings, especially King David - who wrote the beautiful Psalms and slayed Goliath, but also impregnated Bathsheba and then calculated to have her husband killed.

It's a less common theme among political figures, prior to Perry's comments on Fox News. Loading Perry, whose trip to Ukraine for the inauguration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is under scrutiny as the House impeachment inquiry probes the Trump administration's dealings with Ukraine, went on to say that he believes Trump will not be removed from office. ("Oh, Lord, no. Not even close," he said, when Fox's Ed Henry asked him about the possibility that Republican senators might eventually vote to impeach the President.) "He will muscle right on through this. He is an extraordinary individual," Perry said. "We've got a mission here and we're going to get through it."

Perry has served as energy secretary since the beginning of the Trump administration, and is soon to leave his post. He led a prayer last week at his final cabinet meeting. The former Texas governor, who ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican primary for president, grew up in the mainline United Methodist denomination, a church with a more liberal stance on some theological questions. He and his wife were active in a United Methodist church for years, including teaching confirmation classes. But in 2007, he joined a more conservative, evangelical megachurch. Perry's political message has often been overtly Christian, in ways both symbolic and tangible. He has said the country is based on Christian values and his own political path has been directed by God; he has also signed anti-abortion legislation while visiting an evangelical school, and participated in constitutionally-barred prayer at public school. In Trump's cabinet, that puts him in good company. Many of Trump's cabinet secretaries are beloved by white evangelical voters, who sometimes have put aside their scepticism about Trump's own moral compass because they saw the firm Christians he surrounded himself with.