Donald Trump has been accused of cultural appropriation after donning a Jewish prayer shawl during a Christian meeting.

The shawl, called a tallit, is usually worn by Jewish men during prayer and was draped over the GOP candidate by a pastor at the Great Faith Ministries in Detroit as he stood to address the congregation.

Bishop Wayne Jackson said: "Let me just put this on you" as he gave Trump the tallit, Haaretz reported. Jackson then gave Trump a bible.

He told the Republican: "This is the Jewish Heritage Study bible and we have it especially for you, and we have one for your wife. Because when things go down, you can study the word of God. When things seem like it's almost impossible, you read Mark 9:23, 'If one canst believe, all things are possible.'"

But the gesture did not go down well with many in the Jewish community, who questioned why Trump had been given the tallit in a Christian church and whether he understood what it was.

One Twitter user posted: "How dare you don the tallit @realDonalTrump? U R not a Jew. The tallit is a sacred garment of Jews," adding it was 'sacrilege' for Trump to wear it.

The gesture has also caused a backlash as Trump has been accused of anti-Semitism in the past, most recently using an image that appeared to be the Star of David to create a meme of Hillary Clinton featuring the slogan 'most corrupt candidate ever'.

His Democrat rival accused him of anti-Semitism, but Trump claimed the six-pointed star was a sheriff's badge and did not address accusations the meme had been shared on a white supremacist website before Trump used it.

Despite having a Jewish son-in-law, and his daughter Ivanka converting to Judaism, Trump has several high-profile anti-Semitic supporters including former Klu Klux Klan leader David Duke, who Trump eventually rebuked after originally claiming he had no idea who Duke was.