A number of leaders within the Christian community have now come out and shared their reaction to the news that broke on Sunday concerning President Joe Biden’s future in the 2024 presidential race. Biden shared a letter on social media Sunday afternoon revealing that he was going to drop out of the race and no longer be the Democratic Party’s nominee, which comes about after weeks of immense pressure from fellow Democrats within the government and in Hollywood following a disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump last month.
Michael Wear, an evangelical Christian and activist/author who used to work in the Obama administration immediately got on X and said, “I encourage people to actually get clear on what you think, what you believe, right now. You don’t need to broadcast it.”
“But don’t let the same people who told you in February that it was foolish to question Biden, and then told you in July that it was foolish to not want Biden to step down, now tell you that it’s foolish if you have some questions about the next thing they’re planning to do,” he said.
Wear finished up by writing, “what should be clear right now is that no one knows what to do in this moment.”
Albert Mohler, who is serving as the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, along with hosting a podcast called, “The Briefing,” also weighed in on the president’s weekend announcement.
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“Well, you’re going to remember yesterday. It’s going to be one of those days etched into the American historical memory, particularly as related to presidential elections,” Mohler stated. “The announcement that came yesterday was a bolt out of the blue, and the indications of that are that members of the administration itself had been at least engaging the press as late as Sunday morning insisting that the president was not going to withdraw from the race.”
Here’s more from The Christian Post’s latest report:
Mohler believed that “Joe Biden hitched his wagon to a very liberal trend, a liberal ideology” and that “if indeed Kamala Harris is the next nominee, you’re talking about a vast leap to the left in terms of political ideology.”
The Rev. William J. Barber II, a progressive activist and leader of the Poor People’s Campaign, took to social media to express support for Vice President Kamala Harris following the announcement.
“When a President steps down, the VP steps up. If Dems can focus on agenda to address poverty, low wages, access to healthcare, women’s & voting rights, VP Harris can unite & energize a broad electorate,” he posted.
Barber then went on to state that there are millions of American voters who cast a ballot for a Biden/Harris team as one ticket, both in the previous election and in the primary held earlier this year.
“A Vice President exists to step in when a President steps down. Dems need to follow the succession plan that’s in place or never complain again that their opponents undermine democracy,” he explained.
I’m not so sure that succession is the same for campaigns as it is for actually occupying the office, though. It seems to me the fairest thing to do is have a small, short primary and allow the American people to choose who they want as their nominees.
Former Arkansas governor and former Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee expressed his opinion on the Biden announcement via his X account.
“Biden bails out saying he’s not able to be a candidate,” tweeted Huckabee. “But he thinks he’s able to still be President? I truly believe being President is harder than being candidate. Unless he really HASN’T been functioning as President anyway, which isn’t the least bit comforting.”
Huckabee went on to label Biden the “Executive Chef” while Harris was “his pastry chef,” believing that “[g]etting him out of kitchen is fine but the food on the menu still makes you sick.”
Finally, David French threw his two cents into the mix. French is an Evangelical writer and columnist who writes for the New York Times and has been extremely critical of Trump and those who support him.
“This is selfless leadership. We’ve seen leaders put themselves over the country for too long. Trump is doing that right now. Now it’s time to find the candidate who can end Trump’s political career,” he said.
French also stated that he believed if Vice President Kamala Harris becomes the nominee “one of her first tasks will be dismantling the lies told at the Republican National Convention, including the lie that Trump was better for law and order.”
French then shared a statement from former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, which celebrated Biden’s public service and wished him well in the future.