Christian politics in the United States from Donald Trump to Joe Biden: From extreme polarization to a closing of the God gap?
Donald Trump’s success with Christian voters in the 2016 election took many commentators by surprise. Trump’s personality and his irreligiosity appeared to put him at odds with this constituency, leading many to predict that he would fail to win them over. Yet, observant white evangelicals and Catholics voted overwhelmingly for the New York-based outsider. Their resentment vis-à-vis the advances of the LGBT cause, as well as a sense that the Obama administration in its second term had conducted a policy hostile to Christians, gave Trump the opportunity to lead a revanchist campaign centered around the promise of restoring America to its Christian roots. In doing so, Donald Trump laid the ground for a “Christianist” policy that only grew stronger during his presidency. However, the constituency of observant white Christians started to break up and some of them chose Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Comparing the results of the 2016 and 2020 elections reveals a decline in polarization, which might signal a narrowing of the God gap.