“An evangelical Christian leader who has been one of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters is breaking ranks with the president over who won the election. In an op-ed for Fox News, Robert Jeffress said “it appears that former Vice President Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States on Jan. 20, unless President Trump succeeds in legal challenges to the counting of votes in several states.” He calls Biden’s victory “a bitter pill to swallow” for “millions of Christians across our nation.” But, unlike Trump and other Republicans, he isn’t calling the election a fraud. Jeffress admits it’s “always easier to submit and to pray for someone when he was our preferred candidate,” but added that Christians should welcome the chance to show ”we] are not hypocrites.” He wrote: “When Joe Biden becomes president, we should commend him for the things he does right. We should condemn the things he does wrong. And above all, we must pray fervently for our president. “If President Biden succeeds, we all succeed. May God bless Joe Biden, and may God bless the United States of America.” Jeffress’ suggestion that Christians accept the vote count represents a sea-change-of-sorts for the Dallas-based pastor, who in 2019 claimed America would face a “Civil War-like fracture” if Trump was impeached. (the president, of course, was impeached by the House, but acquitted in a Senate trial.) The preacher also has said that evangelicals who didn’t support Trump were “morons,” and that Jews are going to hell.
