Majority of white evangelical Protestants in US believe Trump serves their interests

Survey shows two-thirds of group say their cause is winning under Trump, compared with 23% in 2016

Harriet Sherwood
@harrietsherwood
Thu 12 Mar 2020 14.25 GMT
Last modified on Fri 13 Mar 2020 00.50 GMT

Almost two-thirds of white evangelical Protestants in the US believe “their side” is winning politically under the Trump administration, according to a new survey.

The proportion has increased steadily during Trump’s presidency. In May 2016, six months before he was elected, 23% of white evangelical Protestants said their side was winning politically, rising to 36% two years ago, and 63% last month.

The survey, published by the Pew Research Center on Thursday, found that a big majority of white evangelical Protestants in the US – a key part of Trump’s electoral base – believed the president was good for their interests, but they had more mixed views on his personal attributes.

More than eight in 10 said the Trump administration “fights for what I believe in” either very or fairly well. But markedly fewer – 61% – said the phrase “morally upstanding” described the president very or fairly well.

“Even among this strongly supportive constituency, most do not view Trump as a very religious, honest or morally upstanding person,” said the report.

-snip-