New figures from Pew Research Center suggest that most Americans believe President Trump is not a very religious person.
The research was conducted prior to a row that broke out after Trump posted an AI-image of himself in which he appeared to be Jesus healing a sick man. Trump later deleted the image and claimed he thought the depiction was of himself as a doctor from the Red Cross.
Whatever the case, the Pew figures suggest that around 70 per cent of US adults believe Trump is either “not too” or “not at all” religious. Almost a quarter of respondents (24 per cent) believed Trump to be “somewhat” religions, while just five per cent believe him to be “very” religious.
Among Christians, the figures are somewhat different, with nearly two thirds (64 per cent of Protestants) and nearly three quarters (71 per cent) of Catholics saying that Trump is either “not too” or “not at all” religious. Among white Evangelicals, a core Trump-supporting demographic, that figure drops to 51 per cent.
Perhaps the biggest divide in views is between Republicans and Democrats, with 42 per cent of Republicans believing Trump to be somewhat religious, compared to just 8 per cent of Democrats.
Some reports have suggested that following an assassination attempt during his re-election campaign, Trump became more open to religion. A shooter’s bullet grazed Trump’s ear and the nearest of near misses has led some, including Trump himself, to speculate that he was saved by God.
If such speculation is true, there is still no agreement as to why God decided to save Trump. Options range from making America great again, to being a staunch supporter of Israel, or both.
While many may doubt Trump’s personal faith, around 22 per cent of US adults believe Trump stands up for people of faith either “a great deal” or “quite a bit”. This figure rises to 43 per cent among Republicans and to 67 per cent among white Evangelicals.
Analysing the data, Pew Research Associate Chip Rotolo said, "Even among Trump’s strongest supporters, relatively few people say they think he is very religious. Just 8% of Republicans and 5% of White evangelicals say this is the case."
He added, “White Catholics are far more likely than Hispanic Catholics to say Trump stands up at least somewhat for people with religious beliefs like theirs.
"Hispanic Catholics, in turn, have become more likely to say Trump doesn’t stand up for people with their religious beliefs. [Fifty-five percent] now say he stands up a little or not at all for their religious beliefs, up from 40% when we last asked this question in February 2024.”
