September 22, 2024
White evangelical Protestants have a favorable view of Donald Trump, but few would describe him as Christian or moral. More than half say he better represents their religious views or beliefs than Kamala Harris.
In contrast, about half of Black Protestants, who have the most positive overall view of Harris, consider her as moral. And 6 in 10 think she is the candidate that better represents their religious views or beliefs.
Overall, the public is more likely to see Harris as moral and honest over Trump. Most don’t think that the words Christian or religious describe either candidate extremely or very well.
About 7 in 10 white evangelical Protestants view Trump positively, along with about half of white Catholics and half of white mainline Protestants. Hispanic Protestants and Hispanic Catholics are closely divided in their assessment of Trump.
Three quarters of Black Protestants have a favorable opinion of Harris. About half Hispanic Catholics view Harris favorably. White evangelical Protestants and white Catholics are more inclined to have an unfavorable opinion of Harris.
When asked what words best describe each candidate, white evangelicals are particulalry likely to say the words Christian, moral, religious, or honest do not describe Harris well. However, most Black Protestants believe these words do describe her at least somewhat well.
When asked about the same words to describe Trump, many white mainline Protestants, Hispanic Catholics, and Black Protestants do not think any describe Trump particularly well. Hispanic Protestants are more closely divided. Roughly half of white evangelical Protestants and white Catholics think the words describe Trump at least somewhat well.
Six in 10 Black Protestants think Harris represents their religious views or beliefs better than Trump does. About half of white evangelical Protestants say Trump represents their religious views or beliefs better than Harris. Notably, about a third of most religious groups feel neither candidate represents their religious views and beliefs.
White evangelical Protestants are more likely than most other religious groups to say that the phrases “would fight for people like you,” “tough enough to be president,” and “would change the country for the better” describe Trump extremely or very well, and less likely to say the phrase “will say anything to win the election” describes him extremely or very well. On the other hand, Black Protestants are more likely than the other religious groups to say the same about Harris.
The nationwide poll was conducted September 12-16, 2024 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 2,028 adults. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.4 percentage points.
- Suggested Citation: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (September 2024). Neither Trump nor Harris is described by the public as religious or Christian
