Poll: Evangelical support for Trump remains high

However, over half-way through Trump’s term, the vast majority of Jews still do not approve of the president.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

A Pew Research Center poll taken in January indicates that two years into his presidency, U.S. President Donald Trump’s biggest fans are still by far white evangelical Protestants.

Although support has dropped nine points since his inauguration, 69 percent of this religious demographic still approves of the way Trump is handling his job as president. This compares quite favorably to other white Protestants, who have held steady at some 48%.

But it marks a huge difference with black co-religionists, whose confidence in the president has not budged in two years, remaining at a measly 12%.

Other non-whites are also less-favorably disposed to the president, with only 26% of non-white Catholics approving of Trump’s performance.

Smaller religious groups cannot be reliably analyzed from individual polls due to their sample size, the Center reported. However, by combining results from 11 polls conducted over the past two years, it appears that Jews (24%) and Muslims (18%) bring up the rear in terms of support for the president.

Unsurprisingly, the differences between Republicans and Democrats are quite stark on many issues polled. For example, nearly nine out of ten Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (89%) are confident in Trump’s ability to negotiate favorable trade agreements with other countries or make good decisions about economic policy. This compares with just 19% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.

Overall, Trump’s poorest grades concerned his ability to work effectively with Congress. Only 35% say they are very or somewhat confident that he can do it.

The Pew Research Center found in 2017 that white evangelical Protestants remain one of the most reliably Republican groups of voters, with 77% leaning toward or identifying with the party. In fact, Trump had an evangelical advisory board during the 2016 presidential election campaign.