White Evangelicals Give Trump’s Behavior a Pass

Washington Post: “White evangelicals had a substantially different reaction when asked about Trump or Clinton. When primed to think about Trump, only 6% of them say that an elected official who acts immorally in private is incapable of being ethical in public life. But when Bill Clinton is mentioned, that rises to 27% — a 21-point increase.”

“By comparison, Catholics differed by only 5 points when asked about Trump or Clinton. And, as we might expect, mentioning Clinton makes secular Americans less likely to worry about the public ethics of a privately immoral official.”

“In short, white evangelicals are far more likely to shift their view of a politician’s private behavior when asked about a Trump than when asked about Bill Clinton.”