Why do Christians vote for Trump?

Have you heard anyone express frustration, or maybe even contempt and hatred, towards Christians, especially those of the “white evangelical” kind, because of their support for Trump? It’s said that around four fifths of this demographic support him, and that he enjoys the support of a majority of Christians as a whole.

According to analysis by Ryan Burge, in 2020 there were some denominations that preferred Biden, mostly black-majority – but he agreed that most Christians were firmly in favour of Trump. 

Therefore, people who are angry that he has been elected often vent their frustrations towards Christians and blame them for his victories.

It’s a commonly held opinion. However, the extent to which evangelicals are strongly pro-Trump is often misunderstood. For example, the consultancy More in Common, which conducts research about polarisation with the aim of bringing people together, found “Americans often overestimate the importance evangelicals and Catholics place on their political identity and partisan affiliation.” 

In fact, it said, people who are not evangelicals estimate that 41% of evangelicals say political party affiliation is their most important identity – but in reality only 4% do. They also overestimate the percentage of evangelicals who say “being a good Christian means supporting the Republican Party” by 55% vs 20%. “Those who overestimate also tend to have more negative views towards evangelicals,” they found.

Instead, the group said that churches can play a positive role in bringing people together: “Local places of worship can serve as vital spaces for connection and understanding, helping to counter the toxic polarisation that threatens to fracture the nation. Ultimately, faith communities share an exciting potential to become powerful agents of unity in a divided America.”

Read more:

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Misunderstandings

What is clear, during the 2024 election and in the post-vote commentary, is that people on each ‘side’ find it very hard to understand the point of view of the other. Witness some of the comments under the YouTube video of the Premier Unbelievable discussion with Shane Idleman, the founder and lead pastor of Westside Christian Fellowship in Lancaster and Leona Valley, California. The church leader presented a fairly balanced picture of the situation from a Christian perspective, and didn’t appear to be a hardcore “MAGA” fan. But he was sure that a vote for Trump was the best choice for Christians, because he believes that the democratic platform “doesn’t line up with scripture at all” due to abortion, embryonic stem cell research, the border crisis, gender fluidity, and the “pornographic books we’re allowing into our kindergarten classes and libraries.” He concludes: “there’s no way you can embrace that.”

Listeners aired their ire in the comments below: “There’s no way Jesus would vote for Trump. NONE,” said one. Another described it as a “superficial, unchallenged diatribe.” 

Idleman’s reasons for voting for Trump are probably not surprising if you have followed the campaign from both points of view. Democrats are perceived by Republicans as being extreme on transgender policy, abortion, immigration, and on having not run the economy well in the last 4 years. 

But for Idleman who lives in a traditionally Democrat-controlled region, the problems are acute: “I’m three hours from San Diego and I can tell you that the open borders, the fentanyl crisis is… unbelievable,” said Idleman. “Then you look at how they’re celebrating being able to to murder a child at nine months here [via abortion] in California in New York and surgery for a 10-year-old that wants to change [gender.] I mean these… have enormous consequences to them.

“I’m not concerned as much about our president’s character as I am about the direction of our nation. That’s the big concern and that’s why there’s a huge divide.”

Observing the British commentary on social media, it does seem that the UK is finding it particularly difficult to understand why Christians vote for Trump. Tim Montgomerie, a Christian activist in the Conservative Party, wrote on X (twitter): “That most Brits are surprised at the re-election of Trump is, in part, a massive failure of our mainstream media. Every one of Trump’s faults has been endlessly highlighted but the extremism of Biden-Harris on everything from abortion to immigration to climate change to racism has been pushed under the carpet. We were only ever told one half of the story by a media class who are more partisan than they’ll ever admit.”

Premier listener Drew Barker, from Sheffield, perhaps illustrated this lack of understanding of Trump’s support, when he posed a question for Shane on Premier Unbelievable: “I’m an atheist and can’t understand my Christian neighbours’ political decisions. I find it arrogant to claim that Republican policies are the Christian choice when so much of Republican leadership behaviour lacks integrity and their policies excluding of a large part of society. Surely Jesus, who I don’t believe was the son of God, but still a good guy who healed the sick, welcomed the outsider, forgave the sinful, and built social borders, would side with more of the democratic values of inclusivity.”

Idleman’s response was that it is harmful to allow some of the Democratic policies that can be perceived as inclusive, especially related to sexuality. “I love these people,” he said. “I love them enough to speak the truth in love, and say ‘I love you but hey, this is what God’s word says, this is a destructive pattern.’ So I think all these ‘hate mongering homophobe’ [accusations] is a complete lie.” 

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A bitter argument 

However feisty the comments under that video, they are nothing compared to the acrimony in a discussion between former BBC producer Roger Bolton and US conservative commentator Eric Metaxas, which was published by Premier Unbelievable just before the election. Bolton presented a fairly typical British perception of Trump, asking how Christians could support someone who is divisive, rejected the 2020 election results, and other matters of contention. 

In 2016, Metaxas didn’t like Trump, he said. But his impression of Trump’s character changed when he saw that he kept to what he promised while in office – on Roe v Wade, and other issues. “There’s so many people who are who convinced that he’s some kind of monster, that I despair of of seriously making the case that he’s not, just because I think people have already made up their minds,” said Metaxas. 

The conversation soon become hostile. Metaxas said he had the perception of the Democrats as having “fully embraced madness” related to transgenderism and also policies such as “defund the police” and open borders. This is where the first flashpoint occurred, as Bolton argued that Kamala Harris didn’t have open border policies. “Her record on the border is mindblowing,” said Metaxas, arguing that she was in charge while the increased influx of people over the past few years occurred. “I am aghast… we don’t know whom we have allowed into our country. This is unconscionable and she has overseen that.” 

There were a number of other bones of contention. Bolton asked why Trump, who uses divisive language, is popular with Christians when a key teaching of Jesus is reconciliation and loving our neighbour. But Metaxas threw this back at Bolton, arguing that his use of the phrase “threat to democracy” is divisive: “Donald Trump has never done anything, anything that is a threat to democracy, but people keep saying it as though it’s understood,” he said.

When Bolton questioned Trump’s failure to accept the result of the 2020 election, Metaxas retorted: “shame on you Roger Bolton for saying that, because not everyone believed that… if I believed it was fair I would have lamented it but I would have accepted it.” He said the view that there were no problems with the 2020 election is “ignorance.”

“For you to push that lie and that cliché, it’s what I expect of people who hate Donald Trump,” said Metaxas. “They’re not interested in the facts, they’re interested in a certain narrative, and it’s a shameful thing. And you talk about division, that’s why we’re divided, because I guarantee you, I am interested in the actual results of the election. I’m not interested in winning at all costs, so when I say that the election was not fair, it’s because I’m convinced it genuinely wasn’t.”

Roger challenged Eric why the evidence the elections were tampered with had not been brought before a court, and he explained that the courts chose not to rule on the matter – not because there was not evidence. “People like you are under the impression that they looked at the evidence and that they adjudicated the situation, which they did not,” said Metaxas.

Unsurprisingly then, given this exchange, Metaxas said there was no choice but for American Christians to vote for Trump. 

Even more predictable were the angry comments under the video, disagreeing with his support for Trump.

With such completely different perspectives and even data about these issues, is it any wonder that there is such deep polarisation and bitter division? 

Heather Tomlinson is a freelance Christian writer. Find more of her work at https://heathertomlinson.substack.com or via X (twitter) @heathertomli