Donald Trump’s Secret Weapon: The Non-Christian Christian Vote

membership ticker

Right now is no time to come up short.

It's time to fight like hell for a democracy where minority rule cannot impose an extreme and cruel agenda, where the Big Lie is called a Big Lie, where facts matter, and where accountability at the polls and in the press has a fighting chance. We have our work cut out for us, and we urgently need to raise about 400,000 by Thursday, June 30, to finish our fiscal year on track and give it everything we possibly can. Please help us get there with a donation if you can right now.

$1,150,000

$1,350,000

Right now is no time to come up short. It's time to fight like hell for a democracy where minority rule cannot impose an extreme and cruel agenda, where facts matter, and where accountability at the polls and in the press has a fighting chance. We have our work cut out for us, and we still need to raise upwards of 400,000 by June 30 to give it everything we can. Please help:

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Hmmm:

Trump’s very strong, relative to Romney, among white people who call themselves Evangelical but don’t go to church. pic.twitter.com/6RXhE7GAGy

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) August 12, 2016

Catholics dislike Trump more than Romney, perhaps because Pope Francis doesn’t care for Trump. Or because Trump is a dick. Whatever. And among white evangelicals who attend church regularly, they’re just going to vote for the Republican, full stop.

But among white evangelicals who blow off church, Trump is much more popular than Romney was. Why? I suppose they sense quite accurately that Romney really was religious. Trump, on the other hand, says he’s religious but very clearly isn’t. This appeals to them. They’re apparently the kind of folks who want to call themselves Christians, but don’t care much for holier-than-thous who make them feel guilty—even just by their existence—for not acting Christian. That’s smart. Trump fits the bill perfectly.