Trump’s path back to the White House has been forged by some of the most influential Christian communities and churches in America. White evangelical Christians have, for the third time, gone to the voting booths and aligned themselves with Trump.?
A candidate that one might think was a most unlikely favorite for conservative Christians, considering his history of financial misconduct, misogyny, porn stars and so-called alternative facts. So, the strong evangelical support for Trump begs the question, why?
“This is a question that's been bothering many scholars of evangelicalism since support for Trump started showing up in polls in 2015”, says Associate Professor Allison Murray. Her research on evangelical churches and gender issues has given her a unique insight in evangelical thinking and their relation to American politics.
“When you look at what evangelicals classically care about and what they think is important, Trump seemed to be the antithesis of everything they thought was important. Evangelicals are usually very anti-divorce, and he's been divorced multiple times. They're not fond of his playboy lifestyle, yet somehow this didn't bother them,” Murray tells us.
She says that scholars are divided when asked why. Some think evangelicals are abandoning their beliefs, while others argue that this alignment makes the most sense.
Unlikely partnership, or…?
“I think it's a bit of both. Evangelicals in America have been quite aligned with the Republican Party since the mid-70s, so supporting a Republican leader, even if he contradicts their beliefs, sort of tracks.”
Murray explains in what way evangelicals align with Trump. She says that there's a lot about evangelicalism that maps onto Trump in surprising ways.
“More so than other Protestant churches in the States, evangelicals tend to rally around celebrity figures. They have a history of following religious celebrities like Billy Graham or mega-church pastors. Trump's celebrity status seems to align with this pattern of following strongman figures,” she says.
“Moreover, the story evangelicals tell themselves is that they entered politics to stop abortion. When Trump promised to appoint anti-choice judges, that was enough for many. Psychologists have coined the term "moral self-licensing," which describes doing one good thing to give yourself permission to overlook the bad. I think we can see moral self-licensing amongst evangelicals when they ignore Trump’s dishonesty or infidelity. Many evangelicals think voting against abortion is ticking the most important ethical box, so they overlook other ethical concerns with Trump.”
Although abortion seems to be the one big political issue that rallies evangelicals to Trump’s candidacy, according to Murray, we must dig further back in history to find the original reason for their political engagement.
“There is a tendency in evangelical communities to say abortion is what got them into politics. But, historically, scholars like Randall Balmer have shown other issues, like desegregation, played a vital role. Evangelicals initially organized to maintain segregation in Christian colleges and control over homeschool curricula. They wanted permission to maintain racial rules on campuses and teach white nationalism at home. The myth that they were in this to save unborn babies came later. Even though the pro-segregation mobilization not part of their main narrative, it’s important to pay attention to these types of underlying factors.”
Changed evangelicalism.
Murray tells us that the story about Trump and evangelicals is not merely is a narrative about evangelicals affecting the American presidential election, but also about how Trump has influenced and, in fact, changed evangelical Christianity.
“Many evangelicals have supported Trump because they align with his vision, but it is also true that his presidency has changed the fabric of evangelicalism. For instance, polls on whether character and morality is important in leadership?flipped post-2016. Evangelicals who once emphasized character so strongly were now sort of saying that ‘the ends justify the means,’ and a leader can still be professionally trustworthy if they are personally unethical.”
But Trump has not only changed what evangelicals think, he has also changed who they are.
“Evangelicals have changed. Many started to identify themselves as evangelical after aligning with Trump politically, even without being part of evangelical churches. Moreover, Trump has become a magnet, drawing in politically conservative voters to evangelicalism, and pushing out progressives who couldn't reconcile support for him. And, because ‘evangelical’ has become so synonymous with ‘Trump-supporting’ some organizations have dropped the label. In 2017, for example, a campus Christian Union changed its name from the Princeton Evangelical Fellowship to the Princeton Christian Fellowship, because the word ‘evangelical’ had too much baggage.”
Changes democracy.
The potential consequences of evangelical support and the following election of Trump has many worried. Murray points out that the understanding of what a democracy is and how it works is changing.
“I'm nervous about increased influence from wealthy individuals and their entrenchment in societal institutions. Democracy and personal safety are at risk,” she claims.
“Trump's selective emergency aid decisions, based on whether a district voted for him or not, are troubling indicators for democracy. And the permission structure his presidency opens worries me, especially regarding gender issues and anti-trans rhetoric that can negatively affect societal views on gender roles and the safety of LGBTQ+ people.”
Murray points out how Trump’s attitudes to gender issues and equality in fact suited evangelical voters.
Corresponding view on gender.
“The misogyny you can see in Trumps’ rhetoric is mirrored in evangelical structures, which are already masculinist. The evangelical narrative reinforces roles that have consequences for women and men, exacerbating gender role policing. Scholars like Kristen Kobe Du Mez have discussed how evangelicals voted along their values when they voted for Trump. They were not holding their noses,” Murray says.
Murrays own research supports this analysis.
“My research delves into the shift starting in the 1970s, particularly looking at evangelical publishing and an emphasis on rigid gender roles. It examines how literature written about these roles pushed the idea that adhering to prescribed gender roles is an indicator of faithfulness, linking this narrow perspective to prosperity in marriage and parenting, and then also to prosperity in society and the American state."
"The assumption in much of the literature is that society used to reinforce the ‘biblical’ way of doing things, but since feminism ‘broke’ society we need to take our cues from the Bible and from the past to get back on track. The nostalgia of a slogan like ‘Make America Great Again’ resonates with a deeply nostalgic religious constituency.”
On the question on whether Trump just presented an opportunity for conservative forces or if he actively accelerates the changes himself, Murray sees Trump as a magnet, revealing compatibility where you would expect friction.
“His influence draws conservatives into evangelicalism while pushing out progressives. We've seen demographic shifts due to disillusioned evangelicals leaving their churches because of support for Trump. The evangelicalism of 2025 is quite different from that of 2015 due to changes that Trump caused,” Murray concludes.