Trump maintains support among evangelicals, according to leaders, surveys

Former President Trump still has significant support among conservative Christian voters, according to a news report based on opinion polls and interviews with evangelical leaders.

However, a challenger to Trump's bid the win the 2024 GOP presidential nomination still has an opportunity to take some of evangelical backing from the former president.

Evangelical voters are key to winning Iowa, which holds the first the presidential nominating contest of the 2024 election cycle, and other, early GOP voting states such as South Carolina, according to Reuters, which interviewed the evangelical leaders and analyzed the surveys.

The wire service reports Trump has strong support among evangelicals despite having been divorced twice and now being under indictment as part of an alleged scheme to pay hush money to a porn star.

Trump won 76% of the white evangelical vote in 2020, down from 80% in 2016, according to Edison Research exit polls.

Pastor Robert Jeffress, who leads a mega church in Dallas, told Reuters this week that he is now solidly behind Trump, after saying earlier this year he was unsure.

He said about potential Trump primary challenger Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis: "There is nothing he has done lately to sway evangelicals."

In a national poll last month by Manmoth University, Trump edged DeSantis among evangelicals in a two-way matchup, 51% to 42%, a nine-point improvement for Trump from the month before.