Trump Tests Limits of His Most Faithful Supporters

New York Times: “Over the past decade, many white evangelicals have overlooked Mr. Trump’s complicated relationship with religion in favor of achieving political goals ranging from restricting access to abortion to hanging copies of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.”

“They are less likely than other religious groups to see a problem with the Trump administration’s handling of files related to the investigation of the convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, the fallout from which has clouded Mr. Trump’s second term. And they have largely embraced the religious framing that administration officials have used to justify the war in Iran.”

“But Mr. Trump’s latest rhetoric, particularly on matters of faith as the war continues, has, according to polls and religious leaders, threatened to splinter a powerful coalition of religious voters who returned him to the White House, a group that includes white and Latino Catholics as well as Latino evangelicals, all of whom swung Mr. Trump’s way in 2024.”