--- title: "White evangelical approval of Trump slips, but eight-in-ten say they would vote for him" description: "Trump’s approval rating has dropped among a range of religious groups, including white evangelicals – though they remain strongly supportive." date: "2020-07-01" authors: - name: "Michael Lipka" job_title: "Associate Director, Research" link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/michael-lipka/" - name: "Gregory A. Smith" job_title: "Senior Associate Director, Research" link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/gregory-a-smith/" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/07/01/white-evangelical-approval-of-trump-slips-but-eight-in-ten-say-they-would-vote-for-him/" categories: - "Donald Trump" - "Election 2020" - "Evangelicalism" - "Religion & Politics" - "White Americans" --- # White evangelical approval of Trump slips, but eight-in-ten say they would vote for him [![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2003/06/View-Changing-World-2003-52.png?w=300)](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2003/06/View-Changing-World-2003-52.png) ![White evangelical approval of Trump slips, but eight-in-ten say they would vote for him](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FT_20.06.30_TrumpReligiousGroups_featured.jpg?w=640) *(David Cliff/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)* Amid [rising coronavirus cases](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article) and [widespread protests over racial injustice](https://www.pewresearch.org/topics/race-and-ethnicity/), President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped among a wide range of religious groups, including white evangelical Protestants – though they remain strongly supportive. [collapsible icon="alt"] #### How we did this This analysis explores U.S. religious groups’ assessments of President Trump’s performance in office and how adherents from each group view a potential Biden presidency. We surveyed 4,708 U.S. adults from June 16 to 22, 2020. Everyone who took part is a member of Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s [methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/methods/u-s-survey-research/american-trends-panel/). Here are the questions used for [this report](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/states_on_COVID_topline_CHECKED.pdf), along with responses, and [its methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/W69-Trump-Approval-Religion_final.pdf). [![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FT_20.07.01.2020_religioustrumpapproval.png?w=640)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/07/01/white-evangelical-approval-of-trump-slips-but-eight-in-ten-say-they-would-vote-for-him/ft_20-07-01-2020_religioustrumpapproval/) [![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FT_20.07.01.2020_religioustrumpapproval3.png?w=310)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/07/01/white-evangelical-approval-of-trump-slips-but-eight-in-ten-say-they-would-vote-for-him/ft_20-07-01-2020_religioustrumpapproval3/) The same survey finds that if the 2020 presidential election were held today, 82% of white evangelical Protestant registered voters would vote for Trump or lean toward voting for him, while 17% say they would back the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, Joe Biden. By comparison, a [Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2018/08/09/an-examination-of-the-2016-electorate-based-on-validated-voters/#religious-affiliation-and-attendance) that was conducted just after the 2016 presidential election among those who were identified as having voted found that 77% of white evangelical Protestant voters backed Trump, while 16% voted for Hillary Clinton. The June survey was conducted after Trump’s [controversial visit](https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2020/06/08/timeline-trump-church-photo-op/?arc404=true) to St. John’s Episcopal Church on June 1, and in the immediate wake of the Supreme Court’s [landmark LGBTQ ruling](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/us/gay-transgender-workers-supreme-court.html) on June 15. A Trump appointee, Neil Gorsuch, wrote the majority opinion that gay, lesbian and transgender employees are protected under existing nondiscrimination laws. Trump’s continued support among white evangelical Protestants – a group that is highly religious and [overwhelmingly Republican](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/06/02/democratic-edge-in-party-identification-narrows-slightly/#religious-divides-in-partisanship) – is matched by their dislike of Biden. A large majority of white evangelical Protestants say Biden would make a “poor” (26%) or even “terrible” (49%) president, while 16% say he would make an “average” president. Only 9% of white evangelicals say Biden would be “great” (2%) or “good” (7%) in the Oval Office, compared with seven-in-ten who say Trump has been good (34%) or great (35%) in that role. While no other religious group is as supportive of Trump as white evangelical Protestants – and his rating has slipped among most Christian groups in this analysis in recent months – the president continues to garner support from half or more of other white Christians. More than half of white Protestants who do *not* identify as evangelical (56%) say they approve of the job Trump is doing, as do 54% of white Catholics – and roughly six-in-ten voters in these groups say they would vote for him if the election were held today. Again, Biden does not instill confidence in many of these white Christians; just one-in-five white Protestants who are not evangelical (19%) and white Catholics (21%) say that Biden would make a good or great president. On the other hand, large majorities of Black Protestants (83%), Hispanic Catholics (74%) and religiously unaffiliated Americans (74%) say they *dis*approve of Trump. Among Black Protestants, levels of disapproval have increased to 83% from 74% in April, but are roughly similar to where they stood in January, when 10% approved of Trump and 87% disapproved. And among Black Protestant voters, just 8% say they would vote for Trump if the election were held today, while 88% would vote for Biden. Black Protestants, who [overwhelmingly identify as Democrats](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/06/02/democratic-edge-in-party-identification-narrows-slightly/#religious-divides-in-partisanship) or as Democratic-leaning independents, are the religious group with by far the most positive views toward Biden. Roughly half (54%) say he would make a good (34%) or great (20%) president, while 36% say he would be an average president and just 8% say he would be poor or terrible. Meanwhile, eight-in-ten Black Protestants say Trump has been a poor (16%) or terrible (63%) president. Among religiously unaffiliated Americans, another strongly Democratic constituency, opinions on a possible Biden presidency are more tepid. (The religiously unaffiliated, also known as “nones,” are those who describe their religion as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.”) Fewer than a third of “nones” (27%) say Biden would be a good or great president, while 39% say he would be average and 33% say he would do a poor or terrible job. Nevertheless, this group’s views toward Biden are much more positive than toward Trump: Seven-in-ten “nones” say Trump has been a poor (13%) or terrible (56%) president, and a similar share of unaffiliated voters (72%) say they would vote for Biden if the election was today. [![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FT_20.07.01.2020_religioustrumpapproval2.png?w=640)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/07/01/white-evangelical-approval-of-trump-slips-but-eight-in-ten-say-they-would-vote-for-him/ft_20-07-01-2020_religioustrumpapproval2/)