Are Trump and Harris particularly Christian? That’s not what most Americans would say: AP-NORC poll

Vice President Kamala Harris is a Baptist who was influenced by religious traditions in her mother’s home country of India.

Former President Donald Trump grew up a mainline Presbyterian but began identifying as a nondenominational Christian near the end of his presidency.

Despite that, few Americans see the presidential candidates as particularly Christian, according to a new survey conducted Sept. 12-16 by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. Only 14% of U.S. adults say the word “Christian” describes Harris or Trump “extremely” or “very” well.

Strikingly, that appears to matter little to part of Trump’s loyal base: white evangelical Protestants. About 7 in 10 members of this group view him favorably. But only about half say Trump best represents their beliefs — around 1 in 10 say this about Harris, and one-third say neither candidate represents their religious beliefs — and around 2 in 10 say “Christian” describes him extremely or very well.

“They really don’t care about, is he religious or not,” said R. Marie Griffith, a religion and politics professor at Washington University in St. Louis.

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