Poll: Trump Support from Evangelical Pastors Slips

More from the article...

... Evangelical Christians are a key voter bloc for Republicans, whose support for culturally right-wing policies like opposition to legal abortion and LGBTQ+ rights have long drawn socially conservative, highly religious voters. High turnout among white evangelical voters would be key to a Trump victory in November, but his relationship with the bloc has faced some tension, as his positions on some of these social issues have at times been less rigid than those of other conservatives.

A new poll from Lifeway Research revealed how his support among Christian pastors has changed since 2020.

While an overwhelming majority of evangelical pastors still say they are backing Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, in November, the survey revealed that his support among this group has dropped compared to four years earlier. ...

My view...

At this point in a campaign, a candidate should be looking to be increasing support among core constituencies, not losing support from them.

... When the Rev. Lee Scott publicly endorsed Kamala Harris for president during the Evangelicals for Harris Zoom call on Aug. 14, the Presbyterian pastor and farmer said he was taking a risk.

"The easy thing for us to do this year would be to keep our heads down, go to the ballot box, keep our vote secret and go about our business," Scott told the group, which garnered roughly 3,200 viewers according to organizers. "But at this time, I just can't do that."

Scott lives in Butler, Pennsylvania, the same town where a would-be assassin shot former President Donald Trump in July. Scott told The Associated Press that the attack and its impact on his community pushed him to speak out against Trump and the "vitriol" and "acceptable violence" he normalized in politics. ...

"I am tired of watching meanness, bigotry and recreational cruelty be the worldly witness of our faith," Scott said on the call. ...

[emphasis mine]

@#7 ... How ANY evangelical preacher (or their congragations) could support Trump is baffling. ...

Yeah, that is a bit baffling.

Is it just another indication that the Evangelical right has become more of a political organization that a religious one?