Trump Demanded Churches Re-Open After Polls Found 'Staggering Decline' in Support From Christian

[Soph0571]

Conservatives

Declaring there is “alarm inside his campaign,” Politico cited a “person close to the campaign” who “described an April survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, which showed a double-digit decline in Trump’s favorability among white evangelicals (-11), white Catholics (-12) and white mainline protestants (-18) from the previous month, as ‘pretty concerning.'”

Double digit drops from the most dedicated members of Trump’s base must be alarming for the Trump re-election campaign and the President, and that led to his Friday demand to allow churches and other houses of worship to re-open.
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“Part of the strategy Trump allies have adopted to protect his relationship with conservative Christians is to frame the novel coronavirus — and church closures in response to social distancing restrictions — as a threat to religious freedom,” Politico notes. “The president’s religious supporters routinely cite religious liberty as one of their top priorities and an area in which they believe the Trump administration has been exceptionally receptive.”

[link:https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2020/05/trump-demanded-churches-re-open-after-polls-found-staggering-decline-in-support-from-christian-conservatives-report/|]

Of course everything he does is about trying to cling onto the levers of power. I am not sure why his advisers think that opening up places of worship to create hotspots and kill off parishioners will improve his declining favourability? Killing the christian right is a sure fire way to get their vote back. Right? *Rolls Eyes*

On the other hand those poll numbers are very pretty. Very pretty indeed.

[exboyfil]

1. Truth be told I think the bar crowd

has more interest in opening up than the majority of the churches.

[Jamastiene]

2. He did it for the numbers. Period.

He'll get a lot of numbers from it. I have been assured by many on DU that this won't give him, and unfortunately us, four more years, but I know that glazed over look the obnoxious right wing Christians get when it gives them a chance to be obnoxious again. Anyone who "protects their right" to be as obnoxious as possible is someone they will remember. Smart Christians are staying home and doing it online. These assholes who INSIST on doing it in person are obnoxious assholes who will love Trump even more for this.

And no, they aren't dropping like flies, so it's not like there will be less of them. If anything, they'll live through getting the virus and claim their god protected them too. Can you tell how frustrated I am putting up with asshole Trumplodytes where I live?

[lostnfound]

4. The error of his calculations on this

He and many of his advisors are such sociopaths they don’t believe in th existence of empathy.
He and his advisors may have calculated that only 0.5% of those churchgoers will end up dying from the disease.
But they probably aren’t counting on the other 99.5% being emotionally affected by it.
Rightwing Christians may suffer from empathy shortages when it co Es to stranger,s liberals, black and brown people, foreigners, gays and more, but they are very connected to each other within their churches.

It wouldn’t take much truthtelling to shake up their worldviews on whether those deaths were necessary.

[certainot]

22. analysts continue to misread trump support. the 'evangelical' support is more dittohead

than christian.

they get a lot more hours of hate, and lies on talk radio than they do lessons from the book and preacher. the preachers have learned to listen to the talk radio gods so they can relate on the sunday.

and none of them ever see anyone get up in front of the radio preachers and call them liars and idiots

[BannonsLiver]

30. Ahhh more defeatism

I thought I recognized the irrational silliness from the other thread.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. Was there any doubt this was the reason?

I mean .... Duh.

[ChiTownDenny]

29. +1

[mnmoderatedem]

5. I'm skeptical of polls showing decline in evangelical support

I think that's mostly just individuals trying to make them feel better about themselves at a given moment in time, but when it matters in November, they will look past it just like they do everything else regarding trump.

[dawg day]

11. I know-- also the drop in the elderly approval for Trump-

Maybe it will last, but they've accepted so much horror-show from him and their support hasn't wavered before.

Then again, the moment the scales fall from their eyes, maybe they'll suddenly see him as he really is, and they'll be horrified.

[Mariana]

14. Once their asses are back the pews

Preacher will resume telling them that Trump is God's own handpicked president, and that if they don't vote for him, they're on the side of the devil.

[oldsoftie]

23. There are many segments where he's lost support. Trust me.

I'm around these people ALL the time. I havent cut anyone out of my life because they voted for trump. I've always thought that was stupid anyway. Unless they are just assholes about it & the only ones like that that I know cut ME out because "He's a communist". And guess what, THEY were assholes. But only a couple like that.
But several have come to me, without any prompting, and said "I cant believe how fucking stupid he is" of some other version. All these people thought that campaigning trump would be like all other politicians; rough campaigning but then become "presidential" after winning. Hell, I even thought he'd change.
I really do not believe these people, most of whom i've know for many many years, are going to vote for hi again. Some have told me that. They probably wont vote for Biden, but any loss for trump is bad. Because how many "new" votes is he going to get?

[Retrograde]

33. Just as importantly, he's failed to gain support in other areas

From what I've seen over the last (is it only 3?) years, Dear Leader has made no attempts at all to build support anywhere than among the people who voted for him in 2016. And if you lose a certain percentage of your supporters by alienating them or letting a pandemic kill them, and you fail to replace them with new ones, that doesn't bode well for your election chances.

[oldsoftie]

37. Exactly! Think about it; can you imagine ANY Hillary voter voting trump this year?

I mean, sure, there could a be a few. But he's lost many. And new voters who pick him arent enough to cover the loss

[Lowell]

6. Let them congregate

they can cull the herd themselves.

[mitch96]

12. +1 thinning his herd...... less voters.. what an ass.. It's like shooting your self in the foot..nt

[Cicada]

7. 538. Com trump job rating never changes so I question poll declines

I read trump worse with seniors, now worse with religious people. But it’s always the same job performance rating. Until the two are in sync I trust polls showing declines in subcategories.

[sop]

8. Wait till infections and deaths spike after these congregations follow Trump's orders and reopen.

Predictably, a handful of religious extremists will proclaim it's "God's will," but the majority of these churches will close down again, and blame Trump.

[Mariana]

16. Churches will close down again, but they will never blame Trump. nt.

[tanyev]

9. Good odds for a staggering decline in Christian conservatives in another month or two.

[underpants]

10. Sounds high but white Protestants?!????

Those sound like really high numbers to me but he should be worried. If he is losing white Protestants he and they are screwed.

[Mariana]

17. Trump can't win without the majority of the Christians.

He didn't just get white Evangelicals in 2016, he got the majority of the Christian voters overall - 58% of Protestants, 52% of Catholics, and 61% of Mormons. He can't afford to lose even a few percentage points of the Christians' votes. Non-Christians overwhelmingly voted for Clinton in 2016, and will vote for Joe in 2020.

[Maxheader]

13. Pass the plate donations must be down..

that is all..

[quaker bill]

15. There is a difference between

being allowed to open and actually opening. Church attendance is voluntary and a great many congregations serve an aging population most vulnerable to the disease. Many will not open, some will only open for reduced capacity. The mega churches however do have big bills to pay for shiny steeplehouses and private jets. They will open because their economic model depends on filling the place every time.

[bucolic_frolic]

18. For churches it's a growth business plan

More openings equals more opportunities to praise Trump equals more opportunities to accept donations equals more COVID-19 deaths equals more funerals and the revenue they generate. More thoughts and prayers. Rinse and repeat.

[Renew Deal]

19. Trump lied to Christian conservatives about catching coronavirus

He told them it was a hoax. Guess they noticed.

[zentrum]

20. BTW, does tRump ever

…..go to church himself? He's about as Xtian-caring as a sack of slugs. No insult to slugs.

[oldsoftie]

25. NO. NEVER. And I dont understand why they never call him on it.

[zentrum]

31. Exactly.

[Ilsa]

21. I doubt this new demand from petulant child president

will make that much difference in how he is perceived by these people. I doubt it will be outside the margin of error, especially when COVID-19 infects congregations of all sizes. Heck, he might be killing off his supporters. Looking for Jeffries in Dallas to test positive.

[KSNY]

24. Maybe Christians are reading the teachings of Jesus during shutdown...

Last edited Sat May 23, 2020, 04:15 PM - Edit history (1)

and realizing that Trump is the opposite of everything that their savior stood for?

[KS Toronado]

26. Do Evangelical preachers understand what "Thou Shalt Not Kill" means?

Lets fill up our pews and collection plates for the glory of God! Doubt God sees it that way.

[BrightKnight]

36. second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

Mark 12:30-31

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."


I don’t know what Bible some of them read.
I suspect that many are Sunday cultural “Christians” and they don’t read, understand, and live any of it.

[KS Toronado]

38. Amen Brother, I live by it, unlike republiCONS

[PatSeg]

27. Maybe some of those declining numbers

have to do with Trump himself, not with being able to attend church. Perhaps a lot of people are starting to see who that monster really is by his abhorrent and insensitive reactions to the pandemic. Sure, some people will be happy with going back to church and undoubtedly give Trump credit, but others may have had just about enough of this president.

I think the Trump campaign could have misread those poll numbers. Perhaps some of those Christians are actually looking for real leadership.

[LAS14]

28. I would like to think the drop in support from a lot of these people, particularly...

... mainline protestants (largest drop) is for the same reason other groups are losing trust in him. He's even more clearly nuts than he used to be and it's affecting them directly.

[mathematic]

32. Wow, a few weeks without propaganda meetings and support withers

Kinda curious to find out if the support rebounds after propaganda and peer pressure of church kicks back in.

[lettucebe]

34. If he thinks cramming these folks into churches will help him gain voters he is very wrong

More likely he will kill off quite a few (hundreds, possibly thousands) and their survivors may think twice about their great leader.

[spanone]

35. So trump is trying to gin up their christian hatred toward their governors.

that's trump in a nutshell