Recent polling indicates that most Americans see neither former President Donald Trump nor Vice President Kamala Harris as especially Christian or religious, despite both of them having claimed to identify as such.
Only 14% of Americans polled agreed that “Christian” describes Harris or Trump “extremely” or “very” well, according to a survey conducted Sept. 12-16 of 2,028 U.S. adults by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs.
Approximately seven in 10 white Evangelical Protestants have a favorable view of Trump, though only half say he represents their beliefs. Approximately five in 10 white Catholics and white mainline Protestants support Trump, according to the poll.
Hispanic Protestants and Catholics were narrowly divided between the two candidates, though black Protestants overwhelmingly support Harris, with about three-quarters saying they have a favorable view of her compared to Trump.
Only one-third of those questioned said the words “honest” or “moral” describe either candidate extremely or very well, with one-third saying such words are appropriate for Harris and about 15% saying they apply to Trump.
Trump, who was raised mainline Presbyterian and has publicly claimed to be a Christian, has presented himself as the candidate most friendly to Christians while accusing the Biden administration of weaponizing the justice system against people of faith.
Since his two recent assassination attempts, Trump has spoken more openly about God, claiming he thinks about Him more often and attributes his narrow escapes from death to divine providence.
“The only good thing is that it’s always a consequential president that gets shot at, and fortunately so far, I’ve been very lucky,” Trump said during a recent appearance on the Fox News show “Gutfeld!”
“Or something is greater than all of us,” he added. “Something is up there; someone is up there, maybe watching over us.”
