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WASHINGTON (AP) – Conservative evangelical Christians have demonstrated some of Donald Trump’s staunchest allies during his presidency. As his administration draws to a close, some of those backers approach President-elect Joe Biden with skepticism, but not antagonism.
Christian conservatives who have backed Trump through times of crisis and success are uncomfortable with his loss, and many have yet to fully recognize Biden as the election winner amid allegations of fraud in course and unfounded of the president. But they largely fail to echo the harsh tone Trump addressed to his Democratic rival during the campaign, when he claimed baseless that Biden is “against God”.
Texas-based mega-church pastor Robert Jeffress, a staunch evangelical promoter of Trump, said Christians are compelled to “pray for what appears to be President-elect Biden.” If he succeeds, all of America succeeds.
Jeffress described himself as “deeply disappointed” with the apparent loss of a president whom he considers “a friend”, but added that he would respond to any attempt to raise awareness from Biden, as he did with Trump. The possibility that Biden may “be removed from the extremist positions” held by other Democrats, Jeffress said, is “a plus not just for conservative Christians, but for all of America.”
It is highly unlikely that Christian conservatives could develop a close relationship with Biden, whose support for abortion rights and positions on other issues are at blatant disagreement with the religious right. However, the lack of combative tone on the part of pro-Trump religious conservatives could create space for common ground between the President-elect Catholic and other evangelicals who have not linked so directly to Trump.
“If Joe Biden is the president, if that’s what it turns out to be, then we have to do whatever we can to support him, where we can,” Rev. Franklin Graham said in a recent interview. .
Graham, who heads the Christian nonprofit association founded by his late father, Rev. Billy Graham, is a Trump supporter who offered prayers during his inauguration and at this year’s Republican National Convention. But while stressing that his opposition to abortion is one of many fronts where there can be no compromise, Graham said “we can certainly work with” Biden on other issues.
During the Obama administration, Graham witnessed a conversation Biden called among faith-based advocates of gun law. The pastor also visited the White House in 2014 to discuss the Ebola crisis after a doctor from his global charity, Samaritan’s Purse, successfully battled the deadly disease.
Yet conservative Christians like Graham have wielded limited influence over the Obama administration’s agenda – and pro-Trump evangelicals expect a similar secondary role under Biden.
Family Research Council Chairman Tony Perkins, a longtime Trump partner, said that during Obama’s presidency, “I didn’t go to this end of Pennsylvania Avenue because I was never invited.
“If I was invited, I would definitely go to have a conversation and represent the views of our constituents,” Perkins added in an interview. “But I don’t hope they will invite those who adhere to traditional and biblical views on life, religious freedom and human sexuality.”
Perkins said his socially conservative group would focus on working with the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Whose party is set to retain control of this chamber unless the Democrats cannot win next month’s two rounds of voting in Georgia..
Conservative Christians have no shortage of potential conflicts with the new administration. Biden is likely to overturn Trump’s ban on US foreign aid to groups that support abortion, among other measures to strengthen abortion rights, and he pledged to act quickly on a measure relating to LGBTQ rights that has drawn criticism from leading religious conservatives.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, chair of the Susan B. Anthony List and Catholic advisor to Trump’s re-election campaign, said she saw “almost no hope” of moving Biden to abortion, her group’s priority issue, and foresaw a “hand-to-hand combat until we take over the presidency.” “
However, some groups such as Perkins may find occasional opportunities to work with the Biden administration while remaining critical of it in their messages to members and fundraising, according to evangelical writer and analyst Napp Nazworth.
“They’re going to be able to say, ‘Please support us because your religious freedom is in danger,’ said Nazworth, who left the Christian Post last year after posting a pro-Trump op-ed.
Meanwhile, evangelicals outside of those most closely associated with Trump are already identifying the commonalities where they could partner with Biden.
One of them is his plan to raise the annual refugee admissions limit to 125,000, a wish he recently reiterated at an event organized by Jesuit Refugee Services. The Trump administration had reduced targeting refugees at historically low levels.
Nathan Bult, senior vice president of Bethany Christian Services, said he had engaged with Biden’s transition team on child protection policy.
Bult said his group was working with the Trump administration, but “we’ve never been shy about criticizing” actions he disagreed with, and “we’ll treat the Biden administration the same.” .
Galen Carey, vice president of government relations at the National Association of Evangelicals, highlighted several areas of collaboration with the Biden administration, including immigration, paid family leave and criminal justice reform.
“We have principles that we believe should appeal to all Americans,” said Carey, “and we would like to be a constructive force for the common good.”
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The Associated Press religious coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through the Religion News Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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