Franklin Graham Answers: Can an Evangelical Christian Vote for a Mormon?

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's Mormon faith has been a constant, if at times unspoken, aspect of the campaign. Polls have shown evangelical Christians in particular may be wary of voting for a Mormon. In an exclusive interview with CBN News, Rev. Franklin Graham weighed in on that notion.

So, can an evangelical Christian vote for a Mormon for president? Yes, Graham said.

"Yes. The fact that Mitt Romney's a Mormon doesn't bother me," Graham told CBN. "I think when we're voting for president we need to get the person who is absolutely the most qualified. You can have the nicest guy and he can be a Christian and just wonderful but have absolutely no clue as to how to run a country. You don't want that, you want somebody who understands Washington, who understands government, who understands how to bring people together so that we can move this country forward."

Calling Romney a "very capable fellow" and similarly praising the other candidates in the field, Graham said this election is a time for Christians to pray.

"We need to pray that God would give the right man [or] woman to lead this country," he said. "This is probably the most critical election in my lifetime -- our country is headed on the wrong course, and we're going the wrong direction...people have lost their homes, they've lost their livelihoods and the politics of Washington right now is not helping."

Graham said the shape the country is in could be "God's judgement," and that a "new crop" of politicians is needed to pull America out of its current state.

"We pray that God would -- and this could be God's judgement, he could judging this country for the rejection of his son and our government, our government leaders have turned their back on God and his laws and his statutes. We need to pray that God will give us a new crop of politicians, I don't care if they're Republican or Democrat, but who fear god and who will put God's standards over everything else, who will take us back to the God of our fathers and that's what we need to pray."

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consider themselves to be Christians, though members of other Christian denominations consider them to have significant theological differences. In October, a key supporter of Texas Gov. Rick Perry ignited controversy when he said Romney belonged to a "cult" because of his faith.

GOP contender Jon Huntsman is a Mormon as well.

Watch the interview clip with Graham below, via CBN: