Biden on cusp of presidency, protesters cry foul over vote counts, Christian leaders urge calm
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EEW Magazine Online // Politics // AP
Democrat Joe Biden was on the cusp of winning the presidency on Friday as he opened up narrow leads over President Donald Trump in the critical battlegrounds of Georgia and Pennsylvania. Faith leaders are calling for peace and calm as America is more divided than ever.
Those battleground states put Biden in a stronger position to capture the 270 Electoral College votes needed to take the White House. The winner will lead a country facing a historic set of challenges, including a surging pandemic and deep political polarization.
The focus on Pennsylvania, where Biden led Trump by more than 9,000 votes, and Georgia, where Biden led by more than 1,500, came as Americans entered a third full day after the election without knowing who will lead them for the next four years. The prolonged process added to the anxiety of a nation whose racial and cultural divides were inflamed during the heated campaign.
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As tensions rise, leading faith voices are encouraging Christians not to stoke the flames of hatred and division but rather be peacemakers.
“Not only should all Christians be praying for peace, especially today, but we should also serve as peacemakers by promoting, modeling and proclaiming our unity in Christ across racial, cultural and class lines,” wrote Dr. Tony Evans, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, TX, in a Nov. 3 tweet.
“God has called us to the ministry of reconciliation,” he added, citing 2 Corinthians 5:16-21.
Trump’s campaign continues to make unsupported accusations of voter fraud to argue that his rival was trying to seize power in an extraordinary effort by a sitting American president to sow doubt about the democratic process.
“This is a case when they are trying to steal an election, they are trying to rig an election,” Trump said from the podium of the White House briefing room.
Protesters crying foul over the vote-counting rallied outside tabulation centers in Phoenix and Detroit on Friday, responding to claims by President Trump that the Democrats were trying to steal the White House.
“When we start auditing some of these voter rolls, their fraud may actually be exposed,” conservative activist Charlie Kirk told the crowd, eliciting cheers.
In Detroit, dozens of Trump supporters returned to the streets outside the city’s convention center, where election workers counted ballots.
“Stop the steal!” the protesters chanted. Some carried signs that read, “Make Elections Fair Again” and “We Love Trump.” Police cordoned off streets leading to the building and maintained a close watch on the protest.
The president pledged on Friday, in a statement, to pursue challenges “through every aspect of the law” but also suggested that his fight was “no longer about any single election.” Biden spent Thursday trying to ease tensions and project a more traditional image of presidential leadership. After participating in a coronavirus briefing, he declared that “each ballot must be counted.”
“I ask everyone to stay calm. The process is working,” Biden said. “It is the will of the voters. No one, not anyone else who chooses the president of the United States of America.”
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The Associated Press contributed to this report. Weissert reported from Wilmington, Delaware. Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Alexandra Jaffe in Washington contributed to this report.
