Biden Campaign Press Release - ICYMI: Biden for President Featured in Faith News This Week

This week, Biden for President faith outreach and engagement efforts were featured in multiple stories, as Believers for Biden heads into the final days of this campaign with a broad coalition of people of faith who see that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the clear moral choice in this election.

The week kicked off with the latest installment of the Soul of the Nation Gospel Concert Series, hosted by Devon Franklin and Meagan Good. The event, broadcast nationally and on gospel radio stations in key battleground states, featured musical performances and remarks from celebrities and faith leaders across the country. Throughout the week, Catholic supporters of the Biden-Harris ticket were featured in stories from Religion & Politics and National Catholic Reporter. Also front and center this week: the growing support among Latino Evangelicals, following the endorsement of Joe Biden from the National Latino Coalition of Christian Ministers and Leaders. And as the campaign heads into the final stretch, Joe Biden made his closing argument to people of faith, penning an op-ed in The Christian Post detailing how his values, rooted in his personal faith, have guided his politics over the course of his career in public service.

With just 3 days to go, Believers for Biden is entering the final stretch of this campaign with tremendous support from the broadest, most diverse coalition of people of faith. These voters of faith are mobilizing to make the case that this election is about both restoring and redeeming the soul of the nation, that the Biden-Harris agenda is deeply aligned with the common good values of people of faith, and that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the clear moral choice in this election.

See below for coverage excerpts:

The Christian Post: Devon Franklin hosts faith-based voting event for Biden: We need to bring back justice, civility
[Jeannie Law, 10/26/20]

Christian TV and film producer DeVon Franklin and his wife, actress Meagan Good, hosted a faith-inspired Biden for President event on Sunday.

The "GOTV L!VE: A Soul of the Nation Gospel Concert Special" was broadcast nationally via video stream and over 65 gospel stations.

"We are ready for a new administration, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the leaders that we need to see the progress and changes we all want," Franklin said at the beginning of the event.

"We need to bring back justice, compassion and civility to our country. We've had over 220,000 American lives lost to COVID-19, millions unemployed and sliding into poverty and far too many black lives scarred and cut short by police brutality. And if we're honest, a justice system that has never worked for everyone. We cannot afford to sit around and wait for change; we have to become the change we want to see."

The event also featured a video message from Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris.

"Normally, on these Sundays leading up to election we are gathering together at church with our family and our friends. And we're marching to the polls and strolling to the polls. But most importantly, exercising our right to vote," Harris stated while encouraging everyone to go out and exercise their right to vote.

Black Christian News Network One: DeVon Franklin and Meagan Good Endorse Joe Biden and Kamala Harris While Hosting Virtual "Get Out the Vote: A Soul of the Nation Gospel Concert Special" Event

Religion & Politics: Will Catholic Voters Decide the Election?
[Elena Trueba, 10/29/20]

The Biden campaign has been conducting a broad outreach to Catholic voters. They have launched multiple coalitions dedicated to reaching religious voters through phone banking, voter turnout initiatives, and virtual roundtable discussions, among other events. One of these coalitions, Catholics for Biden, is co-chaired by prominent Catholic surrogates for the campaign like Sen. Tim Kaine and religious historian Anthea Butler. Joan Neal, a former executive vice president at Catholic Relief Services and a Catholics for Biden co-chair, told me the three dozen co-chairs have been "given a lot of freedom" to focus on the areas of outreach about which they are passionate. Neal's efforts have primarily focused on reaching Black Catholics; she has created a voter guide for the Black Catholic community and developed a prayer for Black Catholics to pray leading up to the election "for God's help and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit." The campaign has also launched a series of ads highlighting Biden's personal faith and touting the endorsements he has received from more 1,600 faith leaders. Spearheading many of these endeavors is Dickson, the campaign's national faith engagement director and a former Republican evangelical whose Twitter bio identifies him as a "Common good Christian."

The "common good" is a phrase that appears frequently in the Biden campaign's messaging—Dickson himself recently described the campaign as being "deeply aligned with the common good values of Catholics." It's a nod to Catholic social teaching, which the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops describes as a "rich treasure of wisdom" instructing Catholics how to pursue the common good, which means "building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society." John Carr, the director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University, told me that Biden speaks the language of the common good as he campaigns: "When Biden talks about dignity, when he talks about the least of these, when he talks about treating everyone with respect—these are the building blocks of the common good."

National Catholic Reporter: The 'morally grave' reasons this member of Congress is voting for Biden
[Rep. Thomas Suozzi, 10/30/20]

This election is not a referendum on any one issue. It's a choice between two men.

As Biden likes to tell audiences, "Don't compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative."

Joe Biden is a man of rare character, honesty and compassion. His candidacy speaks to the soul of our nation and the need to realign our moral compass towards the common good. Now more than ever, America needs a leader with empathy and compassion who cares for the least among us and will try to heal the division that exists.

"Scripture is clear," Biden said in a tweet. "It's not enough to just wish the world were better. It's our duty to make it so." Joe Biden is driven by his values. These are values that we Catholics share. Let us join together and truly restore the soul of our nation.

NBC News: In Miami, coalition of Latino evangelical leaders endorses Biden
[Carmen Sesin, 10/30/20]

A group of evangelical leaders endorsed Joe Biden at a press conference in Miami on Friday as the Biden and Trump campaigns amp up their Latino outreach in the battleground state.

Pastor Antonio Mansogo, regional vice president of the National Latino Coalition of Christian Ministers and Leaders, (CONLAMIC), said at a press event that they are endorsing Biden because of the moment we are living in, as well as "his personality and his political trajectory," adding that he is "an impeccable and decent man."

Mansogo said that the last four years have seen division and "destruction" and that Biden "will unify our nation, reconcile our nation," and his policies will help create millions of jobs.

The Christian Post: The greatest commandment has guided my politics
[Joe Biden, 10/29/20]

We don't always have to agree on everything, but our country has to find a way to come together – to overcome the spirit of division and the hateful words that have defined too much of our public life for the last four years.

We all matter in the eyes of God, and it will take all of us to achieve the healing America so desperately needs. To follow God's Greatest Commandment, and to love each other fully. Together, we can win the battle for the soul of our nation; navigate the multiple crises we face – ending this pandemic, driving our economic recovery, confronting systemic racism; address the scourge of poverty; pursue immigration and refugee policies that uphold the dignity of all; and do everything in our power to ensure that all God's children have the hope and future they so rightfully deserve.

As Christians, I know there is much more that unites us than divides us. And as Americans, I know that there is nothing our country cannot achieve when we stand together – united.