Archbishop of Canterbury says Christian supporters of Trump baffle him

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said that he could not comprehend why so many Christians in the U.S. support President Donald Trump.

During his appearance on ITV's "Peston on Sunday," Welby said that he "really, genuinely, do not understand" why fundamentalist Christians have provided such a strong base for Trump.

"There's two things going through my mind: Do I say what I think, or do I say what I should say? And I'm going to say what I think," the archbishop said on the show, referring to the support Trump has garnered from Evangelicals. "No, I don't understand it. I really genuinely do not understand where that is coming from," he added.

An exit poll conducted by Pew Research Center following last year's U.S. Presidential election indicated that 81 percent of people identifying as "white, born-again, evangelical Christians" preferred Trump over Hillary Clinton.

Welby, who serves as the head of the Anglican Communion, which includes the US Episcopal Church, also rebuked Trump for his "completely unacceptable" views about women, but he noted that he has met worse people than the U.S. president.

"I spent years and years involved in conflict stuff around the world where I met people who had killed many, many people," he said, as reported by The Associated Press (AP).

According to Business Insider, as many as 17 women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct, including harassment and assault. However, both Trump and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had denied the allegations and suggested that the women were lying.

The archbishop added that he would be willing to attend a state dinner in Trump's honor if he came to Britain on an official visit.

According to AP, Trump had already accepted an invitation to visit the U.K., although no official date has been set. Some adjustments have reportedly been made to his planned state visit, amid speculation that such a formal welcome could trigger mass protests.

On the same program, the archbishop, who voted to remain in the EU last year, also denounced newspapers that backed Brexit for "stirring up hatred" in a major intervention on the European Union and branding public figures as "public enemies" and "mutineers."

While Welby is willing to meet with the U.S. president, the archbishop said that it would be "unlikely I'd do more than shake hands with him."

He noted that part of his job as archbishop is "to meet people you disagree with and to testify of the love of Christ to them, and to seek to draw them into a different way."