But Suarez added that he is “realistic that Joe Biden may in fact be our next president” and said he hoped Biden would listen to evangelicals.
“Should that be the case, I hope he surrounds himself with true evangelicals and will listen to our concerns,” Suarez said. “If his message is healing and unity it would be a mistake to not invite us to the table.”
Meanwhile, the Rev. Robert Jeffress, a Texas pastor who has been deeply supportive of Trump, leaned toward accepting the projected results of the election over the weekend, writing, “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 also offered thoughts about the election on a Fox News radio show, where he discussed “President Biden.”
In a later interview with Fox News, Jeffress said Trump has “every right to contest the election.” He also tweeted out a clarification of his remarks on Fox radio, saying, “As you listen to my … commentary, remember that the election has not been certified yet.”
At least one former Trump faith adviser was unequivocal in his embrace of the election results: New York City megachurch pastor the Rev. A.R. Bernard, who resigned from Trump’s campaign evangelical advisory board in 2017 after the president’s controversial remarks regarding the racist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left one woman dead and others injured.
“Congratulations to President Elect Joe Biden and Vice President Elect Kamala Harris,” he tweeted.
Congratulations to President Elect @JoeBiden and Vice President Elect @KamalaHarris. pic.twitter.com/53KBrCgRdB
— A. R. Bernard (@ARBernard) November 8, 2020
Even the least subtle of the president’s faithful supporters seem to have softened as the days go by. Pastor and televangelist Kenneth Copeland mocked the major media outlets — such as CNN, MSNBC, ABC, The Associated Press and Fox News — for declaring the former vice president the victor.
“The media said what? The media said Joe Biden is the president,” Copeland told his congregation. He then exploded into aggressive, performative laughter that lasted several seconds as his congregation cheered him on.
He later added: “He’s going to be president, and Mickey Mouse is going to be king.”
But Copeland appeared to apologize for the remarks in a separate video posted to YouTube on Monday. “For those that have the idea that I hate Joe Biden, I do not,” he said. “No, I love him. … And should it be necessary, I apologize if that came across that way.”
Yonat Shimron contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on ReligionNews.com.
