Most white evangelical Protestants – one of President Donald Trump’s most important electoral blocs – have a positive assessment of his administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic so far, Pew Research Center reports.
Pew said its findings are based on research conducted between March 10-16. This was after the nation’s first coronavirus death, but during which Trump declared a national state of emergency on March 13. The period preceded his initial proposal for an unprecedented economic relief package, which has ballooned to $1 trillion, and which Congress is working on to finalize and approve.
More than three-quarters (77 percent) of white evangelicals say they “are at least somewhat confident” in Trump’s response to the outbreak. The World Health Organization declared the crisis a pandemic on March 11.
Almost half (49 percent) of those white evangelicals say they are “very confident,” and majorities of that group say Trump has “assessed the risks of the situation correctly (64 percent), and that “the crisis has been blown out of proportion by the media (76 percent).”
Pew’s findings reveal gaps in the opinions of white evangelicals as compared to Americans overall.
For instance, less than a quarter (24 percent) of white evangelicals say the president hasn’t taken “seriously enough” the risks associated with the coronavirus. But more than half of Americans in general (52 percent) say he “has underplayed the risks.” Those who hold this opinion include majorities of the religiously unaffiliated (64 percent), black Protestants (67 percent) and Jews (73 percent).
Pew found that white Christians other than evangelicals also are “fairly confident” in how Trump is handling the pandemic. However, these groups express a range of support for Trump’s performance.
Source: Christian Headlines
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