Megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress denies calling former Vice President Joe Biden “president-elect” after penning an op-ed article for Fox News.
The Christian Post reported that Jeffress, a strong supporter of President Trump, stirred up the controversy after he wrote an article encouraging Christians to maintain unity and respect, regardless of the results. The headline, however, called Biden president-elect.
Several other mainstream media outlets carried the headline. ABC News ran an article with the title: “Pastor Robert Jeffress, staunch Trump evangelical supporter, calls Biden president-elect.” UPROXX, a culture news website, said: “Even Pro-Trump Evangelical Pastor Robert Jeffress Wants The President To Concede Already.”
The 64-year-old pastor told Twitter followers that Fox News chose the title, not him.
“Don’t believe some false media reports that I have ‘broken’ with our great President @realDonaldTrump,” he said. “I support him completely. We do NOT have a ‘president-elect’ until [the] electoral college votes December 14.”
Don’t believe some false media reports that I have “broken” with our great President @realDonaldTrump. I support him completely. We do NOT have a “president-elect” until electoral college votes December 14. I will discuss on “@LouDobbs Tonight” Friday.
— Dr. Robert Jeffress (@robertjeffress) November 11, 2020
Nonetheless, Jeffress urged unity amongst Christians regardless of the decision, though he agreed that “it appears that former Vice President Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States on January 20.”
“We have to remember that even though the occupant of the White House is changing, the One who occupies the throne of Heaven hasn’t changed,” he said in his article. “…It’s always easier to submit and to pray for someone when he was our preferred candidate. But the rubber really meets the road when the person who takes office is not the one we supported.”
He encouraged Christians to “commend [Biden] for the things he does right” and “condemn the things he does wrong.” Most importantly, however, Christians should “pray fervently for our president.”
“If President Biden succeeds, we all succeed,” he said. “May God bless Joe Biden…”
In a later interview with the Dallas Morning News, Jeffress stressed unity as a country comes when all votes are respected.
The Arizona Republican Party filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the state’s most populous county in the hopes of recounting ballots while a Pittsburgh-based law firm has withdrawn from a lawsuit against the state on the President’s behalf.
Photo courtesy: Robert Jeffress Facebook
Mikaela Mathews is a freelance writer and editor based in Dallas, TX. She was the editor of a local magazine and a contributing writer for the Galveston Daily News and Spirit Magazine.
