After key Baptist leader applauds Biden’s withdrawal, agency retracts announcement of his firing

There’s been a head-spinning reversal of messages from the public-policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. On Sunday, its leader applauded President Joe Biden’s “selfless act” of withdrawing his candidacy for re-election. On Monday, the agency announced the firing of that leader, Brent Leatherwood. But on Tuesday, it retracted that announcement. Instead, the executive committee of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission announced its own chairman has resigned and affirmed its support for Leatherwood as its president. Leatherwood is a staunch conservative, but amid strong support for former President Donald Trump among many Southern Baptists, some want the agency and denomination to move even further to the right.