A plurality of 45 percent of white evangelicals suggested their support of Donald Trump is more of a vote against Hillary Clinton. | Getty Pew survey: Trump gains with white evangelicals

White evangelical voters are flocking to Donald Trump to a greater degree than they were for Mitt Romney at the same point in 2012, while a strong majority of religiously unaffiliated voters have indicated they will support Hillary Clinton in November.

That's according to the results of the latest Pew Research Center analysis released Wednesday, which suggested that white evangelicals are more motivated by their strong disdain for Clinton than their enthusiasm for the presumptive Republican nominee.


Among the 1,655 registered voters identifying as white evangelical Protestants in the telephone survey conducted between June 15-26, 36 percent of those 357 people said they would strongly support Trump, while 39 percent said they would support him, albeit not strongly. On the other hand, just 6 percent of that group said they are supporting Clinton strongly, while 11 percent said their level of support is not strong. Compared to Pew's survey with Romney from June 2012, support for Trump is 10 points higher among those professing strong support and six points lower among those who said their support is not as strong. President Barack Obama commanded slightly more support among white evangelical Protestant voters at the same point in 2012.

For the 476 registered voters surveyed who identified as religiously unaffiliated, 26 percent said they would strongly support Clinton, while 40 percent said their support would not be as full-throated. Compared to 2012, the level of support for Clinton among those professing to be unaffiliated is lower than with Obama, when 37 percent indicated strong support for Obama and 40 percent supporting the incumbent president, albeit not vigorously.

Nearly eight in 10 evangelical voters ultimately cast their ballots for Romney in 2012, according to exit poll data, even amid qualms over the former Massachusetts governor's Mormon faith.

On almost every issue, white evangelical voters preferred Trump to Clinton, including a 64-point difference on gun policy (79 percent to 15 percent) and significant double-digit advantages on defending against terrorist attacks (78 percent to 15 percent), improving economic conditions (77 percent to 14 percent), reducing the influence of lobbyists (73 percent to 10 percent), dealing with immigration (55 percent to 20 percent), selecting Supreme Court justices (74 percent to 19 percent), managing the federal government (74 percent to 19 percent), dealing with health care (69 percent to 22 percent), reflecting their views on abortion (65 percent to 18 percent) and making foreign policy decisions (60 percent to 25 percent).

The only issue where Clinton draws close to Trump is on dealing with race relations, where she earned 44 percent to his 46 percent.

A plurality of 45 percent of white evangelicals suggested their support of Trump is more of a vote against Clinton than a vote for the celebrity Manhattan real estate magnate, while 30 percent said their support is mainly a vote for Trump. Overall, Clinton topped Trump 51 percent to 42 percent in Pew's general-election ballot test, the results of which were released last Thursday. Among so-called religious "nones" backing Clinton, 36 percent said their support for the former secretary of state is mainly driven by their opposition to Trump, while 30 percent said it is mostly for Clinton.

Trump leads Clinton 55 percent to 38 percent among all Protestants, including 78 percent to 17 percent among white evangelicals and 50 percent to 39 percent among white mainline congregants. Among black Protestants, Clinton leads 89 percent to 8 percent, slightly less support than Obama drew against Romney in 2012, when he led 95 percent to 1 percent in that group.

Satisfaction with the two main candidates is down significantly from 2012 among all religious groups. While 40 percent of all registered voters survey said they were satisfied to some degree, another 58 percent said they were not. Four years ago, 56 percent to 41 percent of all voters said they were largely satisfied with their choices. Among religious voters, disdain is even sharper in some respects, particularly among the religiously unaffiliated, who were split four years ago (50 percent satisfied to 48 percent unsatisfied) but are overwhelmingly dissatisfied this year (31 percent satisfied to 67 percent dissatisfied).