To begin with, many evangelicals and their defenders insist on downplaying the centrality of politics. How “moderate” evangelicals respond to escalating threats to democracy may well play a decisive role in determining the fate of American democracy but deciphering which way evangelical moderates will fall is no easy task. The majority of white evangelicals can be found somewhere between these two positions. On the other hand, prominent evangelicals such as David French, Russell Moore, Beth Moore, and Wehner himself continue to push back against evangelical capitulation to Trump and wholescale alignment with reactionary politics. On the one hand, figures like Sean Feucht, Greg Locke, Franklin Graham, and John Hagee routinely grab headlines for their vocal support for Trump, occasional peddling in conspiracy theories, and frequent opposition to public health mandates. Yet, as Peter Wehner noted recently in The Atlantic, white evangelicals are divided among themselves. Despite Trump’s defeat, sixty percent of white evangelicals believe the 2020 election was stolen, and of those, 39% say “true American patriots might have to resort to violence to save our country.” We also know that white evangelicals have a penchant for nationalism, nativism, and authoritarian populism they show a preference for rejecting political compromise, for strong, solitary leadership, and for breaking the rules when necessary.
Four years later, that number held steady. In 2016, around 8 in 10 white evangelical voters chose Trump and became a key bloc of voters that were critical to his victory.