Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is trying to chip away at former President Trump’s evangelical Christian support as the group plays a key role in the 2024 Republican primary.
The competition for the voting bloc was on full display this week in Iowa, where DeSantis held his campaign launch at Clive’s Eternity Church. The Florida governor’s moves come as some evangelicals have criticized Trump’s stance on abortion.
“He appointed three Supreme Court justices who led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but since then, his position on the sanctity of human life has been unclear. It’s been very nuanced,” Bob Vander Plaats, an evangelical political activist from Iowa who endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2016, told The Hill on NewsNation earlier this week. “I think the What voters want to hear is clarity on this issue. No nuances.”
And DeSantis’ allies are taking note. On Thursday, the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down ran an ad in Iowa hit Trump for saying last month that the six-month ban on most abortions that DeSantis signed in Florida was “too tough.”
“The pro-life community expects better than this,” Vander Plaats is heard saying in the spot.
But despite the criticism the former president has received from figures in the anti-abortion movement, he remains highly regarded by evangelical voters.
“We’ve seen over the last five or six years that Trump has a very strong hold and a very strong base with the evangelical base,” said Melissa Deckman, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute. “White evangelical Protestants have stuck with Donald Trump through a myriad of events, including a pandemic, including January 6, including the trials we’re hearing about.”
Trump maintains evangelical support
A Monmouth University Survey released earlier this week showed Trump leading DeSantis by 28 points among self-described evangelical voters in a head-to-head matchup in May. The latest poll marks a jump for Trump among the electoral bloc. In a head-to-head with DeSantis in March, Monmouth found Trump leading by 9 points among evangelicals. In February, the same poll showed Trump trailing DeSantis with the voting bloc by 7 points.
The electoral bloc pushed the former president in the 2016 and 2020 general elections. According to exit polls conducted by Edison Research80 percent of white evangelical Protestants voted for Trump in 2016, while 76 percent supported the former president in 2020.
“At the end of the day, there is one man responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade and that is Donald Trump,” said Robert Jeffress, an influential evangelical pastor and senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas. “If there hadn’t been a Trump presidency, Roe v. Wade would still be the law of the land, and I think ultimately that’s what evangelicals will remember.”
Jeffress told The Hill that he has supported Trump since the summer of 2015 and that he “doesn’t foresee any reason why he would leave Trump.”
Former President Trump visits with campaign volunteers at Grimes Community Complex Park, Thursday, June 1, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa.
Pastors differ on Trump’s stance on abortion
Other pastors say they are still meeting with 2024 GOP contenders as they make their way through early states like Iowa.
Terry Amann, who is the pastor of Des Moines Way Church, met with Trump and other pastors during the former president’s visit to the Hawkeye state on Thursday.
“He was very nice to everybody,” Amann told The Hill.
Amann said the pastors’ group “encouraged” Trump to take a stronger stance on abortion through 2024.
“There was an expression of concern that his position on abortion is not as strong as in the past,” Amann said. “His response was the same as it has been. In his mind, ‘Well, there are political realities out there and I’ve got what I can get.’
Amann said the group appreciates what Trump has accomplished so far on abortion, but added that “as evangelical pastors, we will always push for a total ban.”
Jeffress, who has also spoken with the former president, said he understands where Trump is coming from when it comes to where he stands politically on abortion restrictions.
“I’ve talked to him about it,” Jeffress said, “I don’t think he’s soft on it, but I think he realizes that if you have a national policy, there’s got to be some compromise. Nobody likes use the word commitment.”
DeSantis could turn a profit
Republicans were hit hard on the issue in last year’s midterm elections. Democrats used abortion to go on the offensive in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, and Georgia, and they succeeded.
Abortion advocates, in turn, have pointed to victories by anti-abortion governors like DeSantis. Florida’s governor signed the state’s six-week abortion ban into law after his 2022 re-election.
“The other thing [evangelicals] really at stake is, “Can you win?” And not just win the primary, but he can win the general election,” Vander Plaats, who has not endorsed a candidate, said in an interview with The Hill. “I think that’s Trump’s highest hurdle, and I think DeSantis is saying, “Listen, I barely won Florida in ’18. I won it in a landslide in ’22. We’ve made inroads into demographics that don’t normally vote conservative.”
And while Trump has strong support from evangelicals, polls show DeSantis is viewed favorably by the group, which could give him an opening.
A survey published by the Institute for Research in Public Religion in March, it found that 36 percent of white evangelicals said they viewed DeSantis favorably, while 26 percent said the same about Trump. Deckman noted that in March more voters were unfamiliar with Florida’s governor.
“I think a lot of Ron Desantis’ policies in Florida are aimed at winning the support of core GOP voters, especially cultural conservatives and white evangelicals,” Deckman said. “I think the question will be whether it’s enough to take away support from Donald Trump.”
And there are plenty of other Republican candidates looking to chip away at Trump’s support among evangelical voters and the primary base as a whole, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.
Former Vice President Pence, who is due to formally enter the race on Wednesday, has a particularly strong following among evangelical voters.
“Of all the candidates running against Donald Trump, he probably has the best chance of chipping away at some of the evangelical vote, far more than DeSantis or Haley or any other contender,” Jeffress said. “That said, it’s still going to be an uphill battle for Mike Pence or anyone going up against the behemoth known as Donald Trump.”
