{"id":8913,"date":"2021-09-15T15:30:13","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T20:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/more-white-americans-adopted-than-shed-evangelical-label-during-trump-presidency-especially-his-supporters\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T23:56:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T03:56:36","slug":"more-white-americans-adopted-than-shed-evangelical-label-during-trump-presidency-especially-his-supporters","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2021\/09\/15\/more-white-americans-adopted-than-shed-evangelical-label-during-trump-presidency-especially-his-supporters\/","title":{"rendered":"More White Americans adopted than shed evangelical label during Trump presidency, especially his supporters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpsEvangelicals_featured.jpg?w=640\" alt=\"Then-presidential nominee Donald Trump attends a worship service at the International Church of Las Vegas on Oct. 30, 2016, in Las Vegas.\" class=\"wp-image-400159\" \/><figcaption>Then-presidential nominee Donald Trump attends a worship service at the International Church of Las Vegas on Oct. 30, 2016, in Las Vegas. (Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since Donald Trump was elected president in 2016 due in part to <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2018\/08\/09\/an-examination-of-the-2016-electorate-based-on-validated-voters\/#religious-affiliation-and-attendance\">strong support from White evangelical Protestants<\/a>, many observers have wondered what impact this political alliance might have on the evangelical church in the United States. Would there be an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2017\/nov\/03\/evangelical-christians-religion-politics-trump\">exodus from the church<\/a> on the part of those who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/12\/09\/opinion\/sunday\/wehner-evangelical-republicans.html\">do not share their<\/a> fellow evangelicals\u2019 enthusiasm for the former president? If so, would this leave behind a smaller evangelical population, or would any such defectors be replaced by Trump-supporting converts to evangelicalism? And would White evangelicals who backed Trump in 2016 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2019\/08\/14\/evangelicals-view-trump-their-protector-will-they-stand-by-him\/\">stick with him in 2020<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Contrary to what <a href=\"https:\/\/religionandpolitics.org\/2019\/04\/09\/the-rise-of-exvangelical\/\">some may have expected<\/a>, a new analysis of Pew Research Center survey data finds that there has been no large-scale departure from evangelicalism among White Americans. In fact, there is solid evidence that White Americans who viewed Trump favorably and did <em>not<\/em> identify as evangelicals in 2016 were much more likely than White Trump skeptics to <em>begin identifying as<\/em> born-again or evangelical Protestants by 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, the surveys do not clearly show that White evangelicals who opposed Trump were significantly more likely than Trump supporters to drop the evangelical label. The data also shows that Trump\u2019s electoral performance among White evangelicals was even stronger in 2020 than in 2016, partially due to increased support among White voters who described themselves as evangelicals throughout this period.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"border-width:1px;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);--block-gap: inherit\" class=\"is-style-alternate wp-block-prc-block-collapsible has-background has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-border-color has-ui-beige-dark-border-color\" id=\"how-we-did-this\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/collapsible&quot;}\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;collapsibleId&quot;:&quot;how-we-did-this&quot;,&quot;isOpen&quot;:false}\" data-wp-class--is-open=\"context.isOpen\" data-wp-init--scroll-into-view=\"callbacks.onInitScrollIntoView\"><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__title\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.onClick\"><div>How we did this<\/div><button class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__icon\"><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"context.isOpen\"><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-plus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-plus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!context.isOpen\" hidden><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-minus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-minus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__content\">\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This Pew Research Center analysis examines American Trends Panel (ATP) respondents who participated in each of four surveys: two post-election surveys (one in 2016 and another in 2020) and two annual profile surveys (one in 2015-2016 and another in 2020). In total, 2,897 ATP panelists participated in all four of these surveys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ATP is an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/u-s-survey-research\/american-trends-panel\/\">ATP\u2019s methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 2016 post-election survey was conducted Nov. 29-Dec. 12, 2016. The 2020 post-election survey was conducted Nov. 12-17, 2020. Each survey asked respondents whom they voted for in the presidential election that had just been held. Each survey also asked respondents to rate Donald Trump on a \u201cfeeling thermometer\u201d ranging from 0 to 100, where a rating of zero indicates the coldest, most negative possible feeling and a score of 100 indicates the warmest, most positive possible feeling. Read more about <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2016\/12\/20\/methodology-81\/\">how the 2016 post-election survey was conducted<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/12\/12-20-2016-ATP-Political-topline-for-release.pdf\">the questions it asked<\/a>. Read more about <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2020\/11\/20\/post-election-views-methodology\/\">how the 2020 post-election survey was conducted<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/11\/PP_2020.11.19_Post-Election-Views_TOPLINE.pdf\">the questions it asked<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ATP panelists are asked about their religious identity annually, as part of a \u201cprofile survey.\u201d The 2016 indicators of panelists\u2019 religious identity come from a profile survey conducted Oct. 5, 2015-April 13, 2016. The 2020 indicators of panelists\u2019 religious identity come from a profile survey conducted Aug. 3-Sept. 20, 2020.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The questions used to categorize respondents as \u201cborn-again\/evangelical Protestants\u201d are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>What is your present religion, if any?<\/em> Responses include Protestant (for example, Baptist, Methodist, Non-denominational, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Episcopalian, Reformed, Church of Christ, etc.), Roman Catholic, Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS), Orthodox (such as Greek, Russian, or some other Orthodox church), Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, agnostic, something else, nothing in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Would you describe yourself as a born-again or evangelical Christian?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Respondents describing themselves as \u201cProtestants\u201d in reply to the first question and who say \u201cyes\u201d to the second question are defined in this report as \u201cborn-again\/evangelical Protestants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This analysis assesses how many respondents labeled their religious identity differently in 2020 than in 2016. In doing so, it uses terms such as \u201cdefectors\u201d to characterize those who described their religious identity differently across the two surveys. It also discusses those who \u201cleft the evangelical fold\u201d and identifies how many people adopted the born-again\/evangelical label between 2016 and 2020. Some of this religious switching undoubtedly reflects profound religious change on the part of some individuals \u2013 people who left a longtime congregation and joined a new church, for example, and others who had a moving \u201cborn-again\u201d experience during the period covered by the study. It also may include some movement back-and-forth across religious boundaries among the \u201climinals,\u201d or those who have a weak attachment to a religious identity. These individuals sometimes may describe themselves as Protestants (or Catholics or Jews or Muslims), and at other times may say they have no religion. Fortunately, assuming there is no correlation between views of Trump and \u201climinality,\u201d disentangling liminality from more profound forms of religious switching (which cannot be done using this data) is not critical for assessing the link between Trump support and evangelical identity. If there is a link between views of Trump and retaining or adopting the born-again\/evangelical label, it should appear over and above any movement by liminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more on the liminals, see Lim, Chaeyoon, Carol Ann MacGregor and Robert D. Putnam. 2010. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/j.1468-5906.2010.01533.x\">Secular and Liminal: Discovering Heterogeneity Among Religious Nones<\/a>.\u201d Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, vol. 49, no. 4. See also Putnam, Robert D. and David E. Campbell. 2010. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/americangrace.org\/\">American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These findings come from the Center\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/our-methods\/u-s-surveys\/the-american-trends-panel\/\">American Trends Panel (ATP)<\/a>, which provides a unique window into the relationship between Trump and evangelicals because it has been collecting data from a single group of respondents at various points in time since 2014. In this analysis, we examine responses from ATP members who participated in each of two surveys \u2013 one conducted right after the 2016 election, and another conducted following the 2020 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are some key findings about Trump and evangelical Protestantism in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-has-big-number wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>There was no mass departure of White Americans from evangelical Protestantism between 2016 and 2020.<\/strong> Among all White adults who participated in both the 2016 and 2020 surveys, 25% described themselves as born-again or evangelical Protestants in 2016; 29% described themselves this way in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of course, this doesn\u2019t mean that no one stopped identifying with evangelicalism between 2016 and 2020. The survey shows that among White respondents who participated in both surveys, 2% identified as born-again\/evangelical Protestants in 2016 and no longer did so by 2020. However, the 2% of White adults who stopped identifying as evangelicals during Trump\u2019s term were more than offset by the 6% of White adults who began calling themselves born-again\/evangelical Protestants between 2016 and 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were more defections during this time period among White Protestants who did <em>not<\/em> identify as born-again or evangelical in 2016. Overall, 6% of White adults described themselves as non-evangelical Protestants in 2016 but not in 2020, while 3% started identifying as such during the Trump administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-640-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-14476\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2021\/09\/15\/more-white-americans-adopted-than-shed-evangelical-label-during-trump-presidency-especially-his-supporters\/ft_2021-09-15_trumpevangelicals_03a-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f1f1f0\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f1f1f0;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/ft_2021.09.15_trumpevangelicals_03a.png?resize=480,270 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/ft_2021.09.15_trumpevangelicals_03a.png?resize=782,439 782w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/ft_2021.09.15_trumpevangelicals_03a.png?resize=960,539 960w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/ft_2021.09.15_trumpevangelicals_03a.png?resize=1200,674 1200w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/ft_2021.09.15_trumpevangelicals_03a.png?resize=1280,719 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"360\" width=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/ft_2021.09.15_trumpevangelicals_03a.png?w=640\" alt=\"A table showing that between 2016 and 2020, more White Americans began identifying as evangelical Protestants than stopped doing so\" class=\"wp-image-14476 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-has-big-number wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Between 2016 and 2020, White Americans with warm views toward Trump were far more likely than those with less favorable views of the former president to <em>begin identifying <\/em>as born-again\/evangelical Protestants, <\/strong>perhaps reflecting the strong association between Trump\u2019s political movement and the evangelical religious label.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among White respondents (including both voters and nonvoters) who did <em>not<\/em> identify as evangelicals in 2016 and who expressed a warm view of Trump at some point during the timespan of this study, 16% began describing themselves as born-again or evangelical Protestants by 2020. In stark contrast, almost no White respondents (just 1%) who expressed consistently cold or neutral views toward Trump adopted the born-again\/evangelical label for themselves between 2016 and 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-640-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-14465\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2021\/09\/15\/more-white-americans-adopted-than-shed-evangelical-label-during-trump-presidency-especially-his-supporters\/ft_21-09-15_trumpevangelicals_04-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f1f2f1\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f1f2f1;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_04.png?resize=480,267 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_04.png?resize=782,435 782w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_04.png?resize=960,534 960w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_04.png?resize=1200,668 1200w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_04.png?resize=1280,712 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"356\" width=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_04.png?w=640\" alt=\"A chart showing that White Americans with warm views of Trump were more likely than those with cold views to adopt an evangelical identity between 2016 and 2020\" class=\"wp-image-14465 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-has-big-number wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>There is no clear evidence that White evangelicals who opposed Trump were more likely than Trump supporters to leave the evangelical fold.<\/strong> And the vast majority of White adults who identified as born-again\/evangelical Protestants in 2016 still did so in 2020 \u2013 not surprising given the relatively short period of time between the two presidential elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among White respondents (both voters and nonvoters) who identified as evangelical Protestants in 2016 and expressed at least some ambivalence about Trump, 88% still identified as evangelicals in 2020, while 12% no longer did so. (This group is defined as those who said they voted or would have voted for someone other than Trump in 2016 or 2020 or said they have a neutral or cold view of him at either point in time.) Among consistent Trump supporters, 93% still identified as evangelicals in 2020, while 7% no longer did. Though the 12% defection rate among Trump skeptics is nominally higher than the 7% defection rate among Trump supporters, the difference is not statistically significant given the surveys\u2019 margins of error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-640-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-14468\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2021\/09\/15\/more-white-americans-adopted-than-shed-evangelical-label-during-trump-presidency-especially-his-supporters\/ft_21-09-15_trumpevangelicals_05-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f2f2f2\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f2f2f2;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_05.png?resize=480,290 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_05.png?resize=782,472 782w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_05.png?resize=960,580 960w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_05.png?resize=1200,725 1200w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_05.png?resize=1280,773 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"387\" width=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_05.png?w=640\" alt=\"Did Trump skeptics leave evangelicalism at a higher rate? Data is inconclusive\" class=\"wp-image-14468 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-has-big-number wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Trump garnered even more support in 2020 than in 2016 among White voters who identified as evangelical Protestants in both years and voted in at least one of the two elections. <\/strong>Six-in-ten in this group were consistent Trump supporters who cast ballots for him in both 2016 and 2020, and an additional 18% were Trump converts \u2013 they backed him in 2020 after voting for another candidate or not voting at all in the 2016 general election. In total, 78% of White voters who identified as evangelicals at both points in time voted for Trump in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By contrast, 9% of voters in this group were Trump defectors who backed someone else or did not vote in 2020 after voting for Trump in 2016. The remaining 13% did not vote for Trump in either election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-640-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-14460\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2021\/09\/15\/more-white-americans-adopted-than-shed-evangelical-label-during-trump-presidency-especially-his-supporters\/ft_21-09-15_trumpevangelicals_01-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e4eaeb\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e4eaeb;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_01.png?resize=480,249 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_01.png?resize=782,406 782w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_01.png?resize=960,499 960w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_01.png?resize=1200,623 1200w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_01.png?resize=1280,665 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"333\" width=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/FT_21.09.15_trumpEvangelicals_01.png?w=640\" alt=\"A bar chart showing that among White voters who identified as evangelicals in both 2016 and 2020, Trump did even better the second time around\" class=\"wp-image-14460 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump\u2019s improved performance among this group is one key reason that his <em>overall<\/em> vote share among White evangelical voters \u2013 including those who\u2019d been evangelical all along and those who began identifying as evangelical between 2016 and 2020 \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2021\/06\/30\/behind-bidens-2020-victory\/#voting-patterns-in-the-2020-election\">ticked up from 77% in 2016 to 84% in 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other factors also could have contributed to Trump\u2019s improved performance among White evangelicals as a whole. For example, he could have obtained high levels of support from new White evangelicals who joined the ranks of voters between 2016 and 2020. His share of the evangelical vote could also have been boosted if former evangelical voters (i.e., those who were evangelical voters in 2016, but not in 2020) were disproportionately composed of Trump opponents. Unfortunately, the surveys included too few interviews with either new White evangelical voters (those who adopted the evangelical label for themselves between 2016 and 2020) or former White evangelical voters (those who abandoned the evangelical label by 2020) to be able to provide firm estimates of their views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-has-big-number wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The share of non-White U.S. adults who abandoned the born-again\/evangelical label in recent years is offset by the share who adopted it.<\/strong> Among non-White respondents who participated in both the 2016 and 2020 surveys, 26% identified as born-again\/evangelical Protestants in 2016, and 25% identified this way in 2020. Of course, some did drop the born-again\/evangelical label during Trump\u2019s term (7% of all non-White respondents), but they were offset by an equal share (7%) who adopted the born-again\/evangelical label during the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The surveys did not include enough interviews with Black, Hispanic and other non-White Americans to permit analyzing them separately, or to discern whether Trump opponents were more likely than Trump supporters to drop the evangelical label. This reflects the prevailing opposition to Trump in this group: In the 2020 survey, for example, just 30% of non-White voters who identify as born-again or evangelical Protestants (including just 12% of Black evangelical voters) reported casting a ballot for Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-640-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-14473\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2021\/09\/15\/more-white-americans-adopted-than-shed-evangelical-label-during-trump-presidency-especially-his-supporters\/ft_2021-09-15_trumpevangelicals_02a-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f1f1f0\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f1f1f0;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/ft_2021.09.15_trumpevangelicals_02a.png?resize=480,275 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/ft_2021.09.15_trumpevangelicals_02a.png?resize=782,447 782w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/ft_2021.09.15_trumpevangelicals_02a.png?resize=960,549 960w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/ft_2021.09.15_trumpevangelicals_02a.png?resize=1200,686 1200w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/ft_2021.09.15_trumpevangelicals_02a.png?resize=1280,732 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"366\" width=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/ft_2021.09.15_trumpevangelicals_02a.png?w=640\" alt=\"A table showing that defections from evangelical Protestantism among non-White adults were matched by those who adopted the evangelical 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