GOP senator under fire after controversial use of Bible verse aimed at Obama

US Sen. David Perdue came under fire Friday after he cited a Bible verse that Democrats said "left the impression" he was praying for President Barack Obama's death.

During the Faith and Freedom conference in Washington, DC, Perdue made a quip about the Bible verse Psalm 109:8.

"I think we are called to pray," Perdue began. "I think we're called to pray for our country, for our leaders, and, yes, even for our president. [In] his role as president I think we should pray for Barack Obama, but I think we need to be very specific about how we pray. We should pray like Psalm 109:8 says. It says let his days be few and let another have his office."

The joke was met with laughter and applause.

"In all seriousness, I believe that America is at a moment of crisis," he continued.

Here's how the verse continues:

Let his days be few; and let another take his office.

Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.

Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.

Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.

Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

"If Republicans are still wondering why Donald Trump is their nominee, look no further than today's Faith and Freedom conference where a sitting Republican Senator left the impression he was praying for the death of President Obama and then [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell followed him on stage and did not condemn him," Kristen Orthman, communications director for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, sent in an email shortly after.

In an email to Business Insider, Perdue spokeswoman Megan Whittemore said Perdue "in no way wishes harm" toward Obama.

She wrote:

Senator Perdue said we are called to pray for our country, for our leaders, and for our president. He in no way wishes harm towards our president and everyone in the room understood that. However, we should add the media to our prayer list because they are pushing a narrative to create controversy and that is exactly what the American people are tired of.

Watch Perdue's remarks here >>