Trump-supporting evangelical leaders Franklin Graham, Al Mohler recognize Biden as winner
Two prominent conservative evangelical supporters of President Donald Trump have recognized Joe Biden as president elect following the results of the Electoral College.
Electoral College delegates met on Monday and confirmed the results of the Nov. 3 election, in which Biden won with 306 electoral points, well above the 270 needed to win.
“The Electoral College votes which occurred today reflect the fact that even in the face of a public health crisis unlike anything we have experienced in our lifetimes, the people voted,” said Biden in remarks emailed out to supporters.
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“They voted in record numbers. More Americans voted this year than have ever voted in the history of the United States of America. Over 155 million Americans were determined to have their voices heard and their votes counted.”
Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and longtime Trump supporter, responded to the news in a Facebook post Monday evening. He said that rather than focusing on the disappointment with the result, he was “grateful” for the Trump administration.
“I am grateful—grateful to God that for the last four years He gave us a president who protected our religious liberties; grateful for a president who defended the lives of the unborn, standing publicly against abortion and the bloody smear it has made on our nation,” stated Graham.
“… grateful for a president who nominated conservative judges to the Supreme Court and to our federal courts; grateful for a president who built the strongest economy in 70 years with the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years before the pandemic; grateful for a president who strengthened and supported our military; grateful for a president who stood against “the swamp” and the corruption in Washington; grateful for a president who supported law and order and defended our police.”
Graham went on to say that he believed “President Trump will go down in history as one of the great presidents of our nation, bringing peace and prosperity to millions here in the U.S. and around the world.”
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler, Jr., who did not vote for Trump in 2016 but later supported him in 2020, also commented on the news.
On an episode of his podcast “The Briefing” that aired Tuesday morning, Mohler expressed disappointment with the result, saying Biden “is now the president elect of the United States.”
“It is no secret that I was disappointed in the way that the election turned out,” said Mohler. “I did not want Joe Biden to be elected president of the United States, but he is now the president elect.”
Mohler expressed concern that whenever there is a major election in the United States, there will be large numbers of people disputing the results, no matter how verified. Many of Trump's supporters have argued that there was widespread fraud and that the election was "stolen."
“Every one of these elections is now going to be contested, every outcome is going to be declared to be illegitimate. We are looking at a poisonous cycle in our politics,” he continued.
With the Electoral College vote completed, the next step in the process will be for a joint session of Congress to meet on Jan. 6 to certify the results of the election.
