The latest poll from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) has shown that white evangelical support for President Donald Trump has reached an all-time high.
The findings, released on April 18, has revealed that 75 percent of white evangelicals view Trump favorably, up from 74 percent in February 2017.
The latest figures show a significant gap between the level of support from white evangelicals and the general population, which is currently at 42 percent. Trump's favorability among white evangelicals has increased steadily over the time since he first ran for president.
According to PRRI, white evangelical support for Trump never reached 50 percent during the primaries, but it rose to 61 percent by early fall of 2016. It grew to 68 percent by inauguration day and further went up to 74 percent by February 2017.
The polling firm reported that there had been some fluctuations in the president's favorability among white evangelicals throughout 2017, but it never fell below 65 percent.
Trump is viewed favorably by 71 percent of white evangelical women, and 81 percent of white evangelical men. He is favored by 68 percent of college-educated white evangelicals, compared to 78 percent of white evangelicals without a college degree.
The poll also suggested that white evangelical voters will maintain their support for Trump for the coming 2020 general elections.
Sixty-nine percent of Republican-leaning white evangelicals have indicated that they would prefer the business mogul than any other GOP candidate in 2020, compared to 23 percent who said they would prefer other candidates.
While Trump's favorability among white evangelicals remains high, there are some evangelical leaders who appear to be distancing themselves from the president. Last week, a group of 50 evangelical leaders held a closed-door meeting at Wheaton College in Chicago to discuss the future of the evangelical movement under Trump's presidency.
While the event was not focused solely on Trump, some attendees admitted that the meeting was prompted by the president's close association with white evangelicals.
"Yes, the reason we are getting together is the 2016 election and the role that white evangelicals played in electing Trump," said Katelyn Beaty, editor-at-large of Christianity Today, as reported by Religion News Service.
"But the content of our time together was not about the president and really not about the president's evangelical advisory council. It was really about what does this mean for us and how have we gone wrong and how can we repair what's clearly broken," she added.
The topics discussed in the meeting reportedly included immigration, the role of women in the church, racism, the growth of the church in the Global South, and how evangelicals can disagree with each other while maintaining civility.
