RELIGION/SUPPORTERS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “As President Donald Trump bowed his head in the Oval Office earlier this month, Texas Southern Baptist Pastor Robert Jeffress and other U.S. religious leaders laid their hands on Trump’s back and prayed for Hurricane Harvey’s victims.
With TV cameras and reporters watching, the scene was a powerful reminder of one of Trump’s most reliable and improbable political assets – his close ties with conservative Christians.
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows, however, that Trump’s popularity among white evangelicals has weakened, suggesting his grassroots support may not be as unconditional as religious leaders’ public displays of allegiance would suggest.
That may pose a problem for Trump and his allies as the 2018 midterm congressional election season nears. Trump’s strong links to conservative Christians played a key part in his stunning victory in the 2016 presidential election.
Though disenchanted evangelicals were unlikely to switch their votes to Democrats, they could stay home next year when U.S. voters elect senators and representatives.”
-Ayesha Rascoe and Chris Kahn, “Pastors stand firm as Trump’s U.S. evangelical base weakens,” Reuters, Sept. 15, 2017 03:05am