Astoundingly, Donald Trump continues to be the candidate of choice for white Christian voters, though a recent Pew Research Center poll shows that support is starting to decline.
Today, October 19, people of faith will gather in a community north of downtown Durham for a 90-minute roundtable to accelerate that decline and prevent the re-election of perhaps the most corrupt president in modern history.
The roundtable is being sponsored by the progressive Christian group Vote Common Good as part of series of rallies across the state that aim to “convince voters of faith in key swing states to abandon President Trump,” according to a press release.
“We believe there is 5 to 15 percent of the Christian vote that wants an ‘exit ramp’ from supporting the Trump administration,” the group states on its website.
Vote Common Good officials report garnering 1,600 faith leaders’ endorsements for Joe Biden, “the largest group of faith leaders to endorse a Democratic candidate for president in modern history,” according to the press release. The endorsements “come from a cross-section of religious denominations, with the vast majority from Catholics, evangelicals and mainline Protestants.”
The group will also visit Charlotte and Winston-Salem next week as part of ongoing efforts to activate faith voters by hosting rallies, poll parties, and roundtable discussions, and conducting training sessions for Democratic candidates on how to speak to religious voters.
In a normal, less-Orwellian climate, white evangelicals would have abandoned Trump moments after he trailed down an escalator and described Mexicans as rapists. Then there have been reports of extramarital affairs, paying off a porn star, cavorting with an accused pedophile, separating immigrant families, detaining children in cages, pathological lying, courting dictators, cheating on his taxes, embracing nationalism and white supremacy, the mismanagement of the pandemic, and denials of climate change.
Even with all the evidence of growing moral turpitude, Vote Common Good says the crack in Trump’s Teflon immorality only came about because of a poll that shows that “Trump’s lack of kindness is driving faith voters away in large enough numbers to potentially affect the outcome of the election,” according to the press release.
Here in North Carolina, a Vote Common Ground survey found a 22-point swing from Trump to Biden among Catholic voters and a nine-point swing among evangelical voters.
That double-digit point swing among the state’s Catholic voters dramatically contrasts with the findings of a Pew Research Center poll of 10,543 registered voters across the United States between September 30 and October 5.
According to the Pew Research Center poll, Trump is ahead of Biden by eight points among White Catholic voters. That’s down from 19 points in the summer. Trump’s support among white Protestants who do not consider themselves to be evangelical has also dropped: The 53 percent who say they would vote for the president today is down from 59 percent.
The Pew pollsters report that even white evangelical Protestants have softened, albeit slightly, in their support for Trump; 78 percent of white evangelicals intend to vote for him, compared with 83 percent in August.
Monday’s roundtable is open to all faiths and people of all ages. Organizers described the event as a “blend of rally, revival, party, and political meeting.”
The roundtable will take place 923 Onslow Street. It starts at 3:00 p.m. RSVP to attend. COVID-19 public health measures will be in place.
Follow Durham Reporter Thomasi McDonald on Twitter or send an email to tmcdonald@indyweek.com.
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