Prison Fellowship recognizes Biden as winner, looks forward to working with new admin.
Prominent evangelical ministry Prison Fellowship has released a statement acknowledging Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election and expressing hope for working with the new administration on prison reform issues.
In a statement Tuesday, the prisoner ministry group highlighted certain criminal justice proposals of the Biden campaign, including Pell Grant restoration for imprisoned students, examining the penalty disparity for powder and crack cocaine, and additional investments in effective reentry programming.
Prison Fellowship President and CEO James Ackerman said that he and his organization “look forward to working with the new Biden administration and Congress to advance policies that honor the God-given dignity of every man and woman impacted by crime and incarceration.”
“In 2018, President Trump signed into law the First Step Act, featuring federal drug sentencing reforms and expanded in-prison programming. The historic reform would not have been possible without bipartisan sponsors and support, including Senator Kamala Harris’ vote,” said Ackerman.
“In this season of intense polarization, we can think of no better time to take up the next steps to advance criminal justice as a place of common ground and shared purpose.”
As of Tuesday evening, former Vice President Joe Biden was projected as the winner of the presidential election, defeating President Donald Trump, according to the Associated Press.
The AP called the race for Biden, noting that the Democratic challenger had 290 electoral points to Trump’s 232 and nearly six million more popular votes than the Republican incumbent.
Trump and his supporters have argued that Biden won because of widespread fraud, especially in swing states like Pennsylvania, and have filed legal action over the results.
“[Biden] won because the Election was Rigged,” tweeted Trump on Sunday. “NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn’t even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more!”
Some evangelical leaders, such as Texas megachurch pastor and longtime Trump supporter Robert Jeffress, have refused for the present time to acknowledge a Biden election win.
When some interpreted an opinion column of his as showing that he was recognizing that Biden won the election, Jeffress took to Twitter to reject such claims.
“Don’t believe some false media reports that I have ‘broken’ with our great President @realDonaldTrump,” tweeted Jeffress. “I support him completely. We do NOT have a ‘president-elect’ until electoral college votes December 14.”
Meanwhile, several lawsuits filed by voters and the Trump campaign in swing states have been rejected or dropped in recent days, according to a report by CNN.
These included cases brought by voters in Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, a Trump campaign ballot review request in Arizona, and one by poll watchers in Michigan.