70% of Americans say Trump isn’t religious. White evangelicals don’t care.
From “born again” claims to Bible photo-ops, the performance continues despite overwhelming skepticism
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70% of Americans say Donald Trump is not religious, according to new polling from the Pew Research Center.
(The researchers remind everyone that this survey was conducted “just before Trump criticized Pope Leo XIV and posted an image on social media depicting himself as a Jesus-like figure.”)
It raises two thoughts:
That makes perfect sense. In no way is Trump virtuous or godly and it’s absurd for anyone to think he cares about a “higher power” when he already sees himself as God.
How DARE anyone pretend he’s anything BUT a conservative Christian? He’s their problem, not ours. They OWN him. Everything he does is in the name of Jesus. You better BELIEVE he’s religious.
Somehow, both of those things are true.
It’s an insane line to straddle, too, because conservative Christians have spent the past decade insisting that Trump is one of their own. The now-dead abuse advocate James Dobson even insisted in June of 2016 that Trump had become “born again,” adding that he personally knew the person who “led him to Christ” (though he wouldn’t tell anyone who it was). Dobson believed Trump “really made a commitment,” even if he was only a “baby Christian.” (Half right!)
Trump’s ally, Pastor Mark Burns (who famously lied about his own credentials), said he’s “personally heard [Trump] profess his faith in the Lord Jesus.”
Evangelical huckster Hank Kunneman claimed Trump was anointed by God.
Robert Jeffress agreed Trump was “born again” and a Christ follower.
Trump himself has said he identifies as a Christian:
“Though I was confirmed at a Presbyterian church as a child, I now consider myself to be a non-denominational Christian,” Trump, who has repeatedly identified as a Presbyterian in the past, said in a written response to RNS.
Saying that his parents “taught me the importance of faith and prayer from a young age,” Trump went on to say that “Melania and I have gotten to visit some amazing churches and meet with great faith leaders from around the world. During the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak, I tuned into several virtual church services and know that millions of Americans did the same.”
In recent years, Trump has also posed for many photo ops in which evangelical Christian leaders pray for him with hands on his body like they’re performing a magic trick. But that trick rests on the assumption that Trump is accepting their prayers because he believes the same nonsense.
And that’s just the preachers around him. Trump himself has fueled the speculation by doing things like selling an overpriced cheaply made Bible plastered with his name:
And he held up a Bible in front of a church after his team used tear gas to drive away peaceful protesters:
To a large extent, his Christian cosplaying has worked. In 2023, Republican voters said Donald Trump was more religious than Mitt Romney and Joe Biden. They just overlooked the fact that Trump was a thrice-married racist who paid hush money to porn stars he was having affairs with when his current wife was pregnant with his fifth child. That he was the Two Corinthians guy. That he said he doesn’t need forgiveness. That he couldn’t even name his favorite Bible verse.
The new Pew Research poll is, of course, a survey of all Americans, not just Republicans, but even if you break down the numbers, 49% of Republicans admit Trump isn’t very religious, while 51% of white evangelicals agree! (The rest are hopelessly delusional.) But how many of them with large platforms will ever say that on the record? How many will admit they know Trump doesn’t give a shit about their faith but they all play along with it because their religious base is too damn stupid to handle the truth?
All of this shows how GOP voters don’t actually give a damn what politicians believe. As long as they pay conservative Christians proper lip service, many of those voters will assume they’re devout.
Interestingly enough, 87% of atheists say Trump isn’t religious either, a higher percentage than any other group. But we’re not the hypocrites here. Conservative Christians are.
Here’s the more accurate reading of where we’re at:
The relationship between Trump and conservative Christians has always been transactional. Trump gave them whatever they wanted—credibility they never earned, federal judges who prioritized right-wing religious beliefs over a plain reading of the law, access to political power, etc.—and they gave him their votes over and over. No scandals dissuaded them. No wars bothered them. No attempt to overthrow our democracy gave them pause. No amount of sinning in real time made them budge. They’re just as immoral as he is.
But at no point was Trump ever really Christian, and he never will be because he doesn’t think about religion, and deep down, you know he’s annoyed that he surrounded by people who resemble Mike Pence instead of anyone he respects.
But none of these people will admit that.
The preachers have constantly acted like Trump is one of them (even if he doesn’t look or act like it) and he’s never said otherwise. He might say he’s a bad Christian—to the point that he might not get into Heaven—but he’ll never say he’s not a Christian, because he knows that would erode the support he needs.
So it’s not shocking that 70% of Americans say Trump isn’t religious, but don’t let that get in the way of the fact that white evangelicals are responsible for this era. He’s breaking the country with their help and they should be held accountable for it. And as long as conservative Christians continue to pretend he’s one of them, they should always be tied together in the minds of Americans.
As for the people who genuinely believe he’s religious, imagine spending your entire life pretending to be someone who knows right from wrong because of your faith, only to fall victim to the most obvious scam of all time. It’s just the latest con Trump has pulled over many American voters.
I remember being in the hallway at an FFRF conference shortly after Trump was elected the first time, commiserating with a bunch of strangers, when suddenly the thought occurred to me and I said aloud, "Do you think Trump is an atheist?"
It caught them short, then they all reluctantly agreed. One guy said "He thinks he IS god!"
White Evangelicals were on a high mountain and saw all of the kingdoms of the world, and Trump offered them it all if they simply worshipped him and they said, "Sure thing, Lord."