Trump's support from white evangelicals slips in new poll

A new poll shows that President Donald Trump’s support among white evangelicals has slipped since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, and that national satisfaction amongst Republicans has plummeted.

While the vast majority of evangelicals still support the president, data from Pew Research Centre’s latest survey show a drop of six percentage points since April. The previous survey showed the highest level of support for Mr Trump since his inauguration.

At present, 72 per cent of white evangelicals say they approve of the way that Mr Trump is handling his job.

Very strong approval of the president amongst the group has dropped eight percentage points to 59 per cent.

Though were the election to be held today, 82 per cent would either vote for him or would lean towards voting for him. The survey reports that 17 per cent would vote for Democratic candidate Joe Biden.

At the time of the 2016 election 77 per cent backed Mr Trump, while 16 per cent voted for Hillary Clinton.

The survey, conducted between 16-22 June, came after both the assault on peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square in Washington, DC, to allow the president to stand in front of St John’s Episcopal Church for a photo-op; and the landmark Supreme Court ruling on LGBT+ rights.

Mr Trump has strong support from all Christian groups with the exception of black protestants, 88 per cent of whom would vote for Mr Biden. Some 52 per cent of overall Catholics would also vote for Mr Biden, but Mr Trump wins the support of 57 per cent of white Catholics.

Those with no religious affiliation are heavily in favour of the Democrat by 72 per cent to 25 per cent for the Republican.

Of all US adults, the survey reports 54 per cent supporting Mr Biden and 44 per cent supporting Mr Trump if the election were held today.

Perhaps more worrying for the Trump campaign is the precipitous drop in Republican satisfaction with the way things are going in the country.

Earlier in the year, 55 per cent said they were satisfied. That has now plummeted to 19 per cent. Only 7 per cent of Democrats were are satisfied.

The poll showed 71 per cent of people are angry about the state of the nation, and 66 per cent are fearful.

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