- Just 27% of Americans believe
Donald Trump is religious, according to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll. - Among Christians, 40% of
Evangelicals believe the president is a man of faith, compared to only 23% of Catholics. - The poll was conducted days after Trump disbursed protestors outside a DC church with tear gas so he could stage a photo op.
- According to a March Pew Research Center survey, 34% of Americans couldn't identify what
religion Trump is. - Trump's religious advisor, Charismatic Christian evangelist Paula White, once prayed for "all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now."
Barely a quarter of Americans believe President Donald Trump is religious, according to a new survey.
A Politico/Morning Consult poll of 1,992 registered voters released Wednesday reported that 27% of Americans "somewhat or strongly agree" that Donald Trump is a man of faith, as opposed to the 55% who "somewhat or strongly disagree."
Among all self-described Christians, just over a third believe he's religious, compared to 23% of Catholics and 18% of independent/nondenominational Christians, Politico reported.
The largest sect to see the president as a religious man is evangelicals, at 40%.
Trump's outreach to the evangelical community, one of the most dependable Republican voting blocs, hasn't been without its hurdles. Although his stated positions on abortion, immigration, LGBT rights, and other issues are attractive, his multiple divorces, accusations of adultery, and other scandals rankle their convictions.
The poll was conducted on June 6 and 7, less than a week after Trump had protestors at St. John's Episcopal Church disbursed with tear gas and rubber bullets so he could pose for photos outside with a Bible.
It's another troublesome data point for his re-election bid, which has seen precipitous drops in his support among Christians. A June 4 report by the Public Religion Research Institute saw a 9% decline in favorability toward Trump among white Christians last month.
The biggest drop in support was among white Catholics, according to PRRI, plummeting from 49% in 2019 to 37% in May 2020.
According to a March survey from the Pew Research Center, 34% of Americans couldn't identify what religion Trump was. (Another 16% percent said he had "no religion.")
Raised Presbyterian, Trump is rarely seen in church. And when the subject of religion is involved, he has drawn attention for odd gaffes.
When Bloomberg's Mark Halperin asked Trump to name his favorite Bible verse in 2015, he replied, "I wouldn't want to get into it."
"Because to me, that's very personal," Trump said. "The Bible means a lot to me, but I don't want to get into specifics."
Trump also refused to answer whether he preferred the Old or New Testament.
On the campaign trail, he and wife Melania attended a church in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he placed money in the communion plate, the AP reported. He later referred to the act of communion as "eating my little cracker" and "drinking my little wine."
The President's current religious advisor, Paula White, is a Charismatic Christian televangelist he first contacted in 2002 after seeing her show.
When Trump told White he wanted her to be his "bridge" to evangelicals, she started introducing him to dozens of pastors at a time, Daily Beast reported.
White delivered the invocation at his 2017 inauguration and, in 2019, was appointed special adviser to the White House's Office of Faith and Opportunity Initiative.
She hasn't been without her own controversy, though: White's been criticized for her adherence to prosperity gospel, as well as her accusation that Trump's opponents "operate in sorcery and witchcraft."
In January, White publicly prayed for "all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now," though later claimed she was being quoted out of context, according to CNN.