One of the ways white evangelicals have justified voting for Donald Trump is by saying they only had two options and Hillary Clinton supported abortion, which was a deal-breaker for them. They were reluctant, in other words. It wasn’t that they loved Trump. It’s not that they weren’t disturbed by his bragging about sexual assault, outright bigotry, and complete ignorance. They didn’t vote with a smile on their faces. They just had no other choice.

To anyone who says that, show them this chart. Because PRRI notes that white evangelical support for Trump is currently at 75%, an all-time high.

White evangelical support for Donald Trump has steadily increased over time. Notably, Trump’s favorability among white evangelicals never reached 50 percent during the 2016 primary season. By the early fall of 2016, however, his favorability among white evangelicals had jumped to 61 percent. By the inauguration it increased to 68 percent, and shortly after the inauguration in February 2017 it jumped again to 74 percent. Over the course of 2017, there were minor fluctuations, but Trump’s favorability among white evangelicals never dipped below 65 percent during this time.

What does that mean? Everything Trump has done since taking office — tearing apart families by deporting someone who’s been here for decades, leading a White House that rarely has a scandal-free day, objectively lying on a constant basis, calling African nations “shithole countries,” suggesting that white nationalists are “very fine people,” etc. — hasn’t meant a damn thing to white evangelicals. They don’t care. There’s nothing Trump can do, it seems, that’ll convince those Christians to walk away.

They’re addicted to his power as much as he is.

Remember: Whatever Trump does, now and in the future, you have white evangelicals to thank… or blame. They’re the one group that’s stuck by his side no matter the scandal, and they’re the reason he gets away with everything.

It must be hard for those evangelicals to convince people they’re morally superior to everyone when they have to yell it from a gutter.

(Thanks to Jason for the link)

