After a presidential campaign in which the Democratic Party continued the demonization of President Trump that began with its bogus Russia-collusion probe, Joe Biden is now urging “unity.”
Biden declared, after establiment media projected him as the winner: “Let’s give each other a chance. It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature.”
He said his “opponents” are “not our enemies,” they’re “Americans.”
But many influential members of his party are not on board with his message, Fox News reported.
Some Democrats have called for a “truth and reconciliation commission” and others insist the GOP must be “broken, burned down” and members “who committed crimes” should be punished.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., is asking whether or not there’s “anyone archiving these Trump sycophants for when they try to downplay or deny their complicity in the future?”
Meanwhile, evangelical leaders, who were among Trump’s strongest supporters, insist that if Biden’s truly desires unity, he needs to reach out to them.
Rev. Tony Suarez, vice president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, says Trump has every right to pursue the challenges to the vote count, but acknowledges Biden “may in fact be our next president.”
“Should that be the case, I hope he surrounds himself with true evangelicals and will listen to our concerns,” Suarez said in a Religion News report, “If his message is healing and unity it would be a mistake to not invite us to the table.”
Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, told RNS it’s too early to talk about a Biden presidency.
He said that as “a veteran of the 2000 Florida recount, I take the integrity of elections and the rule of law very seriously.”
“Donald Trump’s campaign is entirely within its rights to pursue legal challenges and recounts where appropriate,” he told RNS. “This election will be over when those recounts are complete and those legal challenges are resolved — and not until.”
Franklin Graham, CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said the courts will have to decide the winner because of significant concerns raised in court.
He said the election will be decided when the Electoral College votes in December, RNS reported.
“He has a case,” Graham said of Trump. “That doesn’t mean the outcome will change. Our forefathers, when they created the Constitution, realized the election might be contested. That’s why the certification isn’t until a month or so later. It gives time for disputes to be worked out.”
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins also pointed to the constitutional process as well as state and federal law.
And Rev. Robert Jeffress, a Texas pastor who has supported Trump’s efforts to protect religious rights, said that while “it appears” Biden will become president, the president has “every right to contest the election.”
