{"id":2299,"date":"2026-06-26T15:41:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T15:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2299"},"modified":"2026-06-26T15:41:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T15:41:18","slug":"trump-wears-thin-after-a-while-evangelicals-bail-on-lame-duck-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2299","title":{"rendered":"‘Trump wears thin after a while’: Evangelicals bail on lame-duck president"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

As the latest polls show plunging support for President Donald Trump among evangelical Christians \u2014 the group that has remained most loyal to him through three elections \u2014 experts say it\u2019s because a growing number of them are beginning to question his \u201ccult of personality\u201d and asking themselves whether they \u201chave to keep supporting everything he does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Stonewalled\u2019: Trump hitting a brick wall with his latest obsession<\/a><\/p>\n

As Stephanie Ruhle of MSNOW reports, \u201cEvangelicals have stood with Donald Trump through thick and thin,\u201d with over 80 percent voting for him in all three presidential races. Most have even stuck with him through his fight with the Pope<\/u>. But now, \u201chis hold on the group may be starting to slip. A recent poll from Reuters shows his approval rating with evangelicals is now 52 percent. Back in August the number was 61 percent.\u201d Just before the war with Iran, it was 69 percent<\/u>. In March 2025, it was even higher at 82 percent<\/u>. In other words, Trump has seen a dramatic collapse among one of his most essential support groups.<\/p>\n

According to Ruhle\u2019s guest, journalist McKay Coppins, who has spent 15 years reporting on the evangelical movement, in order to understand this erosion, you have to look at how evangelicals have evolved to accommodate Trump\u2019s decidedly un-Christian-like behavior. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a couple of things that have changed in the last decade or so of evangelical politics,\u201d says McKay. \u201cWhen I first started covering them, they were all about family values, character, moral leadership. It was like the white noise of social conservative politics. You would hear the same stuff over and over again. When Donald Trump arrived on the scene, that started to change, and for obvious reason, Donald Trump is very clearly not a moral exemplar, not a Christian example. And so the rhetoric started to pivot. For conservative Christians who wanted to justify their support for him, they started to talk more about populism, cultural issues, about grievance, about political power. And for a while that relationship worked pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Trump fever is breaking\u2019 as GOP privately fears \u2018administration is dead in the water\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

As long as Trump continued to deliver on conservative social issues, explains McKay, that bargain held. \u201cBut Donald Trump is now entering his lame-duck stage, and he hates to hear us talk about that. That’s the kind of thing that gnaws at him: the idea that he is fading in relevance. But he is, and evangelicals are looking to the future, and they’re starting to wonder: Do we have to keep supporting everything he does? Do we have to be zealous in our adherence to this cult of personality? Maybe not.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to McKay, evangelicals have become frustrated with Trump over a number of issues, such as the war with Iran and questions surrounding immigration and refugees. Many Christian ministries in places like Texas, Florida, and Tennessee have long provided assistance to refugees, and Trump\u2019s violent deportation program is \u201calienating to a lot of evangelicals.\u201d<\/p>\n

And for others, concludes McKay, the issue may simply be that \u201cDonald Trump wears thin after a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump seethes as White House leaks detail his \u2018gross\u2019 habits<\/a><\/p>\n