In presidential election, many Christian voters split along racial lines
CARSON, CALIF. — President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t have many fans,…
Why did so many Christian voters support Donald Trump?
Church members cite the economy, border, abortion and transgender issues as key concerns.
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Christians helped propel President-elect Donald Trump to victory in the 2024 election, voting for the former president by larger margins than in 2020.
Trump won a second term with 312 Electoral College votes and more than 77 million individual votes — the first time a Republican presidential nominee has claimed the popular vote since George W. Bush’s reelection in 2004.
According to network exit polling, 63 percent of Protestant or other Christian voters picked Trump in 2024, up from 60 percent in 2020.
Related: In presidential election, many Christian voters split along racial lines
An even greater proportion of White Christians voted for Trump: 72 percent of White Protestant or other Christian voters and 82 percent of White born-again or evangelical Christians.
In a Christian Chronicle survey, members of Churches of Christ voiced their reasons for supporting Trump, despite many of them believing Trump has significant — even un-Christian — character flaws.
The economy, the border, abortion and transgender issues were of primary importance for supporters of the president-elect.
A map from 270towin.com shows the Electoral College breakdown in the 2024 presidential election.
The Trump campaign promised to put a stop to inflation, which has recently fallen to 2.6 percent after spiking to 9.1 percent in 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index. The 10-year average annual inflation rate is just under 3 percent.
Trump also promised, as in his 2016 campaign, to finish the border wall with Mexico, enforce immigration laws and begin mass deportation of immigrants living in the country illegally.
The Department of Homeland Security estimates the number of immigrants living in the U.S. without permanent legal status fell from 11.4 million to 10.5 million from 2015 to 2020, the end of Trump’s first term, rising back to 11 million in 2022 under President Joe Biden’s administration.
While abortion was not a key issue of Trump’s 2024 campaign, his three previous Supreme Court appointments were crucial in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
Trump has most recently said he would not support a federal abortion ban, preferring to leave the matter to state legislatures. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris had championed reproductive rights and supported federal abortion protections.
Related: A pro-life — and pro-love — ministry
On transgender issues, Trump’s platform promised to “keep men out of women’s sports, ban taxpayer funding for sex change surgeries and stop taxpayer-funded schools from promoting gender transition.”
He had pointed to Harris’ response to a 2019 questionnaire in which she voiced support for gender-affirming care for those dependent on the government, including prisoners and those in immigrant detention.
But while survey respondents supported the president-elect’s positions on those issues, their opinions of his character were more mixed.
Clint Davison, the 55-year-old preacher for the Linder Road Church of Christ in Meridian, Idaho, called Trump “abrasive and borderline offensive.”
Others, like Selby Yates, a 26-year-old graduate of Harding University in Searcy, Ark., appreciate his brashness as welcome candor.
Selby Yates, a graduate of Harding University in Searcy, Ark., welcomes President-elect Donald Trump’s candor.
“He doesn’t beat around the bush and doesn’t sugar coat his responses. … The way he stands firm for the American people and stands up to the biased left-leaning media is honorable,” Yates said.
Despite respondents describing Trump as a “flawed man,” supporters see him as a champion for people of faith and Christian values — and perhaps even someone who has begun to grow into faith, particularly after assassination attempts were made on him ahead of the election.
“Fight! Fight! Fight!” Donald Trump declared after being shot at a July campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
“God spared my life for a reason,” Trump said in his victory speech in November.
Carys Pate, 24, a traveling physical therapist who worships with the New Bern Church of Christ in North Carolina, said she believes Trump’s philanthropic and other positive efforts often go unreported while the news media spotlight his mistakes and faux pas.
Carys Pate attends the New Bern Church of Christ in North Carolina.
“I think he truly does care about Americans,” Pate said. “I know personal stories where he has helped … pay medical bills.”
And while some have criticized Trump’s Make America Great Again platform as harmful to women and non-White Americans, survey respondents pointed to the president-elect’s increasing support from those demographics.
Trump’s performance improved by 3 percentage points, from 42 percent to 45 percent, among women voters and 7 percentage points, from 26 percent to 33 percent, among non-White voters from 2020 to 2024, according to network exit polls.
He particularly gained support among Hispanic/Latino voters, drawing 46 percent of their votes, compared to 32 percent in 2020.
“The truth is — and the election data shows it — people of all races like the idea of making America great,” said Davison, the Linder Road preacher.
Britt Farmer, 65, preaching minister for the Aledo Church of Christ in Texas, added that it is not being more White that will make America great but rather “the move to a more moral nation.”
Related: Kingdom over country
Still, most of these Christian voters for Trump recognize a divided church and nation — even if some say that polarization is fueled more by media portrayals than reality.
“The rhetoric, misinformation, promoted on social media, television, etc. from both sides must share the blame,” wrote Bill Robinson, the 70-year-old minister for the Upper West Manhattan Church of Christ in New York. “I am really sad to see Christians divide over politics any time. At some point, and on some matters, Christians are just going to have to let God be the judge.
“I have some friends that I love dearly, who voted differently than I did,” he added, “but we both are able to worship together because we recognize God is ruler over all.”
Others, however, cautioned that some Christians have become too accepting of unbiblical behavior.
“It seems our ‘anything goes’ belief has been adopted by many in the church,” said Natalie Clark, 58, a member of the Edmond Church of Christ in Oklahoma. “I’m aware of people asking questions and living in ways that are much too similar to Pilate’s scoffing ‘What is truth?’ rather than being willing to submit to and live out God’s absolute truth.”
Ultimately, most of the Trump voters who responded to the Chronicle survey say they did not cast their ballots for a man who they believe personally espouses Christian values.
Rather, they believe Trump will advance policies and diplomatic relations that will bring peace, prosperity and biblical morality back to America.
Related: Christians pray for Trump — and the divided nation — after assassination attempt
“I am by no means a Trump fan,” Davison said. “He is the face and leader of the party with whom my beliefs and values align more closely. I vote for a platform more than a person.”
Alena Jo Gleason, an 83-year-old member of the Deer Creek Church of Christ in Edmond, Okla., believes Scripture guided her to vote for Trump as the lesser evil. But she noted that God is the one in control.
“Our only job is to obey him (God) and let others know of his Word, never our opinion,” she said. “We are to go about doing what we can for the best of all the world where we live. That means we are fair, honest, trusted and unwavering when others fail to understand.”
CALVIN COCKRELL is the media editor for The Christian Chronicle and serves as the young adults minister for the North Tuscaloosa Church of Christ in Alabama. Reach him at [email protected].
