In a contentious election taking days to call, the Catholic candidate’s faith outreach paid off in swing states. Trump has pledged to challenge in court.
Four days after telling supporters to “keep the faith” on election night, Democratic challenger Joe Biden is projected to defeat Donald Trump in a presidential race he touted as “a battle for the soul of the nation.”
The lifelong Catholic won faithful voters whose mail-in ballots delayed counts in the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and, finally, Pennsylvania to overtake the incumbent president in an election marked by record-setting turnout and pandemic precautions. Final results are still being tabulated in Nevada, North Carolina, and Georgia, where the close numbers have gone to a recount.
Biden, 78, tweeted, “America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country.”
“The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not,” he added, sharing a clip of “America the Beautiful.” “I will keep the faith that you have placed in me.”
Trump rejected Biden’s win, saying in a statement Saturday morning that “this election is far from over,” and pledging a legal challenge to the final ballot-counting in swing states. The electoral college breakdown showed Biden surpassing 270, compared to Trump’s 214 at the time.
Though white evangelical and born-again Christian support for Trump held steady (at 81% according to initial AP VoteCast stats), Biden’s campaign saw a boost from black Protestants, Catholics, and the small cohort of increasingly vocal and organized “Never Trump” evangelicals, some of whom previously voted third-party.
Biden did more to appeal to religious voters than any Democratic candidate for president ...
from Christianity Today Magazine
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