As President Donald Trump faces historic low levels of public approval and is seen as sowing chaos around the globe, not all Americans are upset. In fact, there are some who cheer his actions as president.
Among those, his evangelical Christian base.
Pew Research reported last week that 72% of white evangelicals approve of the way Trump is currently handling his job as president. And 69% rate the ethics of top Trump administration officials as excellent or good.
And despite Trump’s extensive record of lying, 57% of white evangelicals say they trust what Trump says more than what previous presidents said.
It’s not just white evangelicals who are happy with Trump, either.
Elaine Godfrey, writing in a piece titled “The Trump Voters Who Like what They See” for The Atlantic, explains:
But even as Trump’s critics cheer the apparent change of heart among some of his supporters, they face an inconvenient reality: Many of his voters are jubilant. For these happy millions, the first 100 days of Trump’s second presidency have been a procession of fulfilled campaign promises — and have brought the country not to the precipice of economic ruin or democratic collapse, but to a golden age of greatness. They see Trump as ushering in a new era of action, according to my conversations with several Trump supporters and pollsters in recent days. “Even if they don’t agree with everything he’s doing, he’s doing something, and something is better than nothing,” Rich Thau, the president of the nonpartisan qualitative-research firm Engagious, told me.
Godfrey interviewed several loyal Trump supporters who uniformly said they’re fine with the chaos because as least they believe he’s doing something. However, those interviewed also said their views might change if Trump’s economic policies affect them directly.
She wrote: “Some of Trump’s staunchest defenders acknowledged to me that they might reassess their loyalty if a forthcoming trade war results in an untenable increase in their cost of living. Others, though, said that they find it difficult to even fathom such a red line.”
Overall, though, Pew found white evangelicals stand alone in their unwavering support for Trump. The Pew report is titled “White Evangelicals Continue to Stand Out in their Support for Trump.”
While nearly three-fourths of white evangelicals are pleased with Trump’s actions in the first 100 days of his second presidency, white nonevangelical Protestants and white Catholics are more divided, with 51% in each group approving of Trump’s performance.
But majorities of Black Protestants, Hispanic Catholics and religiously unaffiliated adults say they disapprove of how Trump is handling his presidency. These groups disapprove of Trump’s actions by at least two-to-one majorities. He is underwater most with Black Protestants, with 85% disapproving and only 10% approving.
Writing for Pew, Chip Rotolo explains: “These religious patterns largely reflect partisan differences. White evangelicals overwhelmingly identify as or lean Republican, as do smaller majorities of white nonevangelical Protestants and white Catholics. By contrast, most Black Protestants, Hispanic Catholics and religiously unaffiliated adults are Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents.”
Pew also confirmed what other polling groups have documented: Among all groups other than Republicans and evangelicals, Trump’s approval ratings have dropped since February: “Among Americans overall, Trump’s job approval rating is down 7 percentage points since February.”
What’s unusual in the pew data is that Trump’s approval rating among white evangelicals — although very high — has dropped 6 points. It has dropped 8 points among white Catholics. Notably, this poll was taken before Trump posted a social media meme portraying him as the new pope.
Most national polling firms show Trump’s approval ratings in the range of the same time in his first term, April 2017, which also was a historic low.
The same partisan and religious divides show up when Americans are asked about the ethics of the Trump administration and whether people trust what Trump says.
A majority (57%) of white evangelical Protestants say they trust what Trump says more than what previous presidents said while in office. Another 23% say they trust Trump’s words about the same as previous presidents, and only 19% say they have less trust in what Trump says.
A strong majority of white evangelicals (75%) approve of Trump’s efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Only 15% of Black Protestants similarly approve, and only 27% of Hispanic Catholics approve.