Support for Trump slips among white evangelicals

 (Photo: CNN)

Support for Donald Trump has slipped in one of his core supporter groups - white evangelicals - although most still say they would vote for him. 

A new study by the Pew Research Center found a 6 percentage point drop in approval from white evangelical Protestants between April and June, from 78% to 72%.

This mirrors a 5-point drop from US adults overall during the same period. 

White evangelicals who say they "very strongly" approve of Trump's performance is down 8 points, from 67% in April to 59% now. 

Nonetheless, the vast majority (82%) of white evangelical Protestants said they would vote for or lean towards voting for Trump if the 2020 presidential election were held today.

Only 17% said they would vote for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, with half (49%) saying he would make a "terrible" president and a quarter (26%) believing he would be a "poor" president. 

Biden is not an attractive option for white non-evangelicals Protestants either, though, with only one in five (19%) saying they would back him. Only a fifth of white Catholics (21%) said they would vote for him. 

This contrasts significantly with the 83% of black Protestants and 74% of Hispanic Catholics who said they disapprove of Trump.  The overwhelming majority of black Protestants (88%) said they would vote for Biden. 

Among black Protestant voters, only 8% said they would vote for Trump if elections were held today, with over half (54%) saying Biden would make a good president.

Among religiously unaffiliated Americans, three quarters (74%) said they disapproved of Trump and over half (56%) said he had been a terrible president. 

Yet, less than a third of "nones" (27%) said Biden would be a good or great president, while 39% said he would be average and a third said he would do a poor or terrible job.

The latest poll findings come off the back of weeks of unrest in the US over racial injustice and dissatisfaction over Trump's handling of the coronavirus crisis, which has killed 129,000 Americans. 

"Amid rising coronavirus cases and widespread protests over racial injustice, President Donald Trump's approval rating has dropped among a wide range of religious groups, including white evangelical Protestants – though they remain strongly supportive," Pew said.

News
Bangor Cathedral spending frozen after debt concerns 
Bangor Cathedral spending frozen after debt concerns 

Spending at Bangor Cathedral has been halted after whistleblowers raised concerns about debt and how money is being spent. 

How American Gospel teams helped to revive British evangelicalism
How American Gospel teams helped to revive British evangelicalism

From the war and into the 1960s, Gospel teams formed by American servicemen on military bases helped revive many local British churches. This is the story …

Trussell Trust urges urgent policy change as food bank use hits record high
Trussell Trust urges urgent policy change as food bank use hits record high

Food bank use in the UK has soared by more than 50 per cent over the past five years, raising fresh concerns over the effectiveness of Universal Credit and wider welfare reforms in addressing the growing poverty crisis. 

Franklin Graham wraps up European evangelism congress with call to be unashamed of the Gospel
Franklin Graham wraps up European evangelism congress with call to be unashamed of the Gospel

Europe needs an "army" of "unafraid" and "unashamed" evangelists to reach it with the Gospel, Christian leaders heard this week.