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

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


Hmmm:

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.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate