Majorities of white Catholics, white evangelical Protestants and white non-evangelical Protestants continue to support Donald Trump for U.S. president, even as affirmation has dipped in recent months.
Overall, an average of 61% of respondents from all three groups said they “would vote / lean toward voting for Donald Trump if the election were today,” according to a Pew Research Center report published Oct. 13.
Support was strongest among white evangelical Protestants (78% plan to vote for Trump), compared to 53% of white non-evangelical Protestants and 52% of white Catholics.
This is a decline among all groups since February 2017, with white non-evangelical Protestant support down seven points, white evangelical Protestant support down four points and white Catholic support down four points during this time period.
Despite this recent drop, support for Trump among all three groups remains above the 42% of all registered voters who say they plan to vote for the president.
Support for Joe Biden is lowest among white evangelicals (17%), with significantly more planning to vote for the Democratic presidential nominee among white Catholics (44%) and white non-evangelical Protestants (42%).
“White Christians are a key segment of the electorate because they make up roughly 44% of U.S. registered voters. … The survey’s findings about 2020 voting intentions are in line with long-term trends in party identification,” the report said. “White evangelical Protestants – Trump’s strongest supporters – are the most solidly and consistently Republican among major religious groups in the electorate, and they have grown even more uniformly Republican in recent decades. White Catholics and White Protestants who are not evangelical also have shifted in a Republican direction in recent years.”
The margin of error for the report is plus-or-minus 1.5%.
The full report is available here.
Managing editor for news and opinion at Good Faith Media.
