In a Friday analysis for NBC News , pastor Doug Pagitt dived into polling data from his organization, Vote Common Good, that found that Donald Trump’s “unkindness” is linked to significant losses in religious voter support in five swing states.
“And the pattern is strong enough that it could well mean the difference in these states’ going red or blue,” he wrote.
In particular, the non-profit organization found an 11 percent aggregated shift in backing from Trump to his rival Joe Biden in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, and Wisconsin. Pagitt noted the similarities between this poll and trends in recent surveys from Public Religion Research Institute and Fox News, which also discovered a dip in the president’s support from voters of faith.
The survey’s findings suggest that Trump’s shift in backing from this voting bloc is due to the perception of his virtues compared to Biden. In regards to the virtues of kindness, modesty, diligence, humility, patience, chastity, and generosity, 50 percent of respondents rated Biden more virtuous than the president, while just 39 of those surveyed said Trump is more virtuous than his opponent.
Elsewhere, the poll measured the pair on the seven deadly sins — sloth, greed, lust, gluttony, wrath, pride, and envy. The results showed that 51 percent believed Trump was more sinful than Biden, while just 37 thought the opposite.
According to Politico , Trump’s re-election campaign has hit a snag with religious voters. Notably, some of the U.S. leader’s allies of faith are allegedly worried about Biden’s appeal to this demographic and its potential effects on his base of support. The publication noted the Vote Common Good survey’s findings and reflected it with the concerns of those in Trump’s circle.
Pagitt spoke to the publication on the findings and suggested that some 2016 Republican voters believed the head of state would transition into more presidential behavior.
“People of faith who didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton saw her as more corrupt and less kind than Donald Trump, and now some of those same voters see Donald Trump as more corrupt and less kind than Biden.”
Others are less convinced. Former Rep. Tim Huelskamp, who is a member of the Catholics for Trump advisory board, believes that Biden’s outreach to voters of faith will fall flat.
“The idea that Biden is a nice guy with good policies when he picked a very pro-abortion running mate who wants religious Americans to pay for abortion, it’s just not going to work,” he said.
As The Inquisitr reported, David Brody, the chief political analyst at the Christian Broadcasting Network, claimed that the president needs 81 percent support or more from the evangelical demographic to win in November.