White evangelical Christians — the core supporters of Donald Trump — overwhelmingly disapprove of the job President Joe Biden is doing, but also strongly disapprove of his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, which many Democrats complain has been too tilted toward Israel.
The Biden administration has strongly favored U.S. relations with the state of Israel in its retaliatory strikes against Gaza in an attempt to root out Hamas. Biden’s fellow Democrats are deeply divided over this approach, with nearly half saying the U.S. should hold Israel accountable for its own atrocities committed against the Palestinian people of Gaza.
Despite Biden’s actions that largely align with the interests of U.S. evangelicals — the strongest supporters of modern-day Israel of all demographic groups — Biden gets little credit from evangelicals.
The latest NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll asked Americans this question: “Do you approve or disapprove of how President Biden is handling the war between Israel and Hamas?”
Nationwide, 44% of adults approve and 52% disapprove. But among white evangelicals, only 29% approve and 67% disapprove. (A YouGov poll of “evangelicals” and not just “white evangelicals” found more support for Biden’s handling of the war, with 34% approving and 52% disapproving.)
The Marist poll results align with white evangelicals’ view on the Biden administration overall. When asked in general if they approve or disapprove of the job Biden is doing as president, 73% strongly disapprove and another 9% disapprove. Only 16% of white evangelicals in any way approve of Biden’s job performance.
White evangelicals are the least likely of all Americans to say Israel’s actions in Gaza have been “too much.”
The Marist poll found white evangelicals are the least likely of all Americans to say Israel’s actions in Gaza have been “too much.” While one-fourth of the general adult population believes that, only 7% of white evangelicals believe that.
Conversely, white evangelicals are among the most likely to say Israel’s retaliation against Hamas in Gaza has been “too little,” with 40% taking that view — compared to 27% of the general American population.
The Marist and YouGov polls are among the few current national polls that segment evangelicals in their data. Most focus on political affiliation and age.
One other trend evident but less documented among American Christians is the divide between religious liberals and conservatives. Mainline churches appear more likely to call out Israel’s unjust actions against Palestinians, while conservative evangelical churches appear more likely to favor Israel over the Palestinians.
Writing an analysis for The New York Times, David Leonhardt notes this trend: “Self-described ‘very liberal’ Americans express more support for Palestinians than Israelis. No other ideological group does. That helps explain the intensity of the debate on the American left.”
