As Donald Trump increasingly infuses his campaign with Christian trappings while coasting to a third Republican presidential nomination, his support is as strong as ever among evangelicals and other conservative Christians.
鈥淭rump supports Jesus, and without Jesus, America will fall,鈥 said Kimberly Vaughn of Florence, Ky., as she joined other supporters of the former president entering a campaign rally near Dayton, Ohio.
Many of the T-shirts and hats that were worn and sold at the rally in March proclaimed religious slogans such as 鈥淛esus is my savior, Trump is my president鈥 and 鈥淕od, Guns & Trump.鈥 One man鈥檚 shirt declared, 鈥淢ake America Godly Again,鈥 with the image of a luminous Jesus putting his supportive hands on Trump鈥檚 shoulders.
Many attendees said in interviews they believed Trump shared their Christian faith and values. Several cited their opposition to abortion and 2SLGBTQ+ rights, particularly to transgender expressions.
Nobody voiced concern about Trump鈥檚 past conduct or his present indictments on criminal charges, including allegations that he tried to hide hush money payments to a porn actor during his 2016 campaign. Supporters saw Trump as representing a religion of second chances.
And for many, Trump is a champion of Christianity and patriotism.
鈥淚 believe he believes in God and our military men and women, in our country, in America,鈥 said Tammy Houston of New Lexington, Ohio.
鈥淚 put my family first, and on a larger scale, it鈥檚 America first,鈥 said Sherrie Cotterman of Sidney, Ohio. 鈥淎nd I would any day of the week, take a president that openly knows he needs the strength from God over his own.鈥
In many ways, this is a familiar story.
About eight in 10 white evangelical Christians supported Trump in 2020, according to AP VoteCast, and Pew Research Center's validated voter survey found that a similar share supported him in 2016.
But this is a new campaign, and that support has remained durable 鈥 even though Republican voters in the early primaries had several openly conservative Christian candidates to choose from, none of whom faced the legal troubles and misconduct allegations that Trump does. In the Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina Republican primary contests earlier this year, Trump won between 55 per cent and 69 per cent of white evangelical voters, according to AP VoteCast.
Trump even criticized one competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for signing strict abortion curbs into law. In past years, some Trump surrogates have portrayed Trump as friendly to the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
Trump was the only Republican candidate facing scores of criminal charges, ranging from allegations that he conspired to overturn his 2020 election defeat to his current trial on allegations he falsified business records in seeking illegally to sway the 2016 election with hush money to porn actor Stormy Daniels.
Trump was also the only GOP candidate with a history of casino ventures and two divorces, as well as allegations of sexual misconduct 鈥 one of them affirmed by a civil court verdict.
Republican primary voters still overwhelmingly chose Trump.
This has frustrated a minority of conservative evangelicals who see Trump as an unrepentant poser, using the Bible and prayer sessions for photo props. They see him as lacking real faith and facing credible, serious misconduct allegations while campaigning with incendiary rhetoric and authoritarian ambitions.
Karen Swallow Prior, a Christian author and literary scholar who has spoken against fellow evangelicals鈥 embrace of Trump, said this support in 2024 is familiar but 鈥渋ntensified.鈥
In the past, she said Trump supporters hoped but weren鈥檛 certain that Trump shared their Christian faith.
鈥淣ow his supporters believe themselves,鈥 she said. 鈥淒espite the fact that Trump clearly wavers on abortion and he wavers on LGBTQ issues, those things are just ignored, they鈥檙e just erased out of the narrative.鈥
At the Ohio rally, several attendees cited their belief that Trump has followed the Christian path of repenting and starting a new life.
鈥淲e鈥檝e all come from sinning. Jesus sat with sinners, so he鈥檚 going to sit with Trump," Vaughn said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about where Trump came from, it鈥檚 about where he鈥檚 going and where he鈥檚 trying to take us.鈥
The Ohio rally, like other Trump events, featured a recording of the national anthem sung by some of those convicted for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, whom Trump called 鈥減atriots.鈥
At the rally鈥檚 entrance, one group handed out pamphlets urging attendees both to 鈥渢rust in Jesus Christ for your salvation鈥 and to support the 鈥淛6 patriots.鈥
Caleb Cinnamon, 37, of Dayton, identified as a Christian and said opposing abortion is a top priority. He cited Trump鈥檚 three Supreme Court appointments, who proved decisive in the 2022 decision overturning of the Roe v. Wade precedent that had legalized abortion nationwide.
鈥淒onald Trump鈥檚 really the first president who's not only vocalized an anti-abortion stance but also put action behind it,鈥 he said. 鈥淩epublicans since the 1990s were saying 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to do this about abortion,鈥 and then they don鈥檛.鈥
Jody Picagli of Englewood, Ohio, said her Catholic faith and views on abortion are central.
鈥淚鈥檓 a big right-to-life person,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 huge for me. And just morals. I think the moral compass is so out of whack right now. And we need religion and church back in here.鈥
She acknowledged that, with the U.S. Supreme Court turning the abortion issue over to the states, a future U.S. President Trump may not impact abortion law.
鈥淏ut I know he鈥檒l never go to an abortion clinic and visit it, like our vice president did,鈥 she said, alluding to Kamala Harris鈥 tour of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota in March.
Christian supporters of Trump did also cite non-religious issues 鈥 from foreign policy and immigration to gas prices and inflation.
Robert Jones, president of the Public Religion Research Institute and an author of books on white supremacy in American Christianity, said the strong evangelical support for Trump isn鈥檛 surprising. But he said that in a 2023 PRRI poll, less than half of white evangelicals said that abortion was a critical issue to them personally. More than half said that five others were a critical issue, including human trafficking, public schools, rising prices, immigration and crime.
鈥淥ne of the biggest myths about white evangelical support for Trump is this idea that it鈥檚 really about abortion and they鈥檙e holding their nose and voting for Trump,鈥 Jones said.
He added that Trump鈥檚 rhetoric about immigrants 鈥渋nvading the country and changing our cultural heritage鈥 resonates with his audience.
The slogan 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥 echoes an 鈥渆thno-religious vision of a white Christian America, just barely underneath the surface,鈥 Jones said.
He acknowledged the racial lines aren鈥檛 absolute, with Trump attracting Black supporters such as South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
The Ohio rally included a vast majority of white attendees but with some Black and other ethnic groups represented.
Earlier this year, Trump hit multiple applause lines in speaking to a conservative audience at the National Religious Broadcasters convention.
鈥淲e will protect Christians in our schools and in our military and our government,鈥 Trump said. 鈥淲e will protect God in our public square. 鈥 I will protect the content that is pro-God.鈥
Trump pledged a federal task force to fight the 鈥減ersecution against Christians in America鈥 and 鈥渢he toxic poison of gender ideology,鈥 saying 鈥淕od created two genders, male and female.鈥
Trump鈥檚 rallies take on the symbols, rhetoric and agenda of Christian nationalism, which typically includes a belief that America was founded to be a Christian nation and seeks to privilege Christianity in public life.
Trump endorsed a Bible edition that includes U.S. founding documents and the lyrics to Lee Greenwood鈥檚 鈥淕od Bless the USA.鈥
鈥淭his is a Bible specifically for a kind of white evangelical audience that sees themselves as the rightful inheritors of the country,鈥 Jones said, citing a 2023 PRRI poll in which about half of white evangelicals agreed that God intended America as a promised land for European Christians.
Trump鈥檚 campaign events have the feel of a worship service. The former president has shared a 鈥淕od Made Trump鈥 video depicting him in messianic terms. Jones said Trump builds on the messianic theme with statements like, 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not after me, they鈥檙e after you. I鈥檓 just standing in the way.鈥
But Mark DeVine, a Southern Baptist pastor and seminary professor from Birmingham, Alabama, wrote in the online journal American Reformer that conservative Christians support Trump because 鈥渆lected Democrats and Democrat-serving, unelected bureaucrats鈥 have an 鈥渆vil鈥 agenda on issues ranging from abortion to gender to the border to pandemic lockdowns that kept churches closed.
鈥淭rumpers want to shield themselves, their children, their communities, and the nation they love from the woke, totalitarian onslaught now being unleashed upon them where they live, work, study, play, and worship,鈥 he wrote.
At the Ohio rally, some said they believed the nation or its founding documents, such as the Bill of Rights, had Christian origins, though historians dispute such assertions.
Some Trump supporters voiced hope for a more Christian America.
Thomas Isbell of Greensboro, North Carolina, who has set up vending booths for years at Trump rallies around the country, said his 鈥淕od, Guns & Trump鈥 shirts are a top seller.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a Christian country,鈥 he said, adding that if he were president, he would only allow public worship by Christians.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to set up a temple to no other gods in our land,鈥 he said.
AP visual journalist Jessie Wardarski contributed.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP鈥檚 collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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