Trump leans into religious extremism to energize rightwing evangelicals

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

61% : "Since 2016, Trump has become an unlikely hero for Christian nationalists - a loose grouping of evangelical Christians who believe the US was founded as a Christian nation, and want to see Christianity feature prominently in American life and politics.
60% : Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine, you won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians," Trump said in his speech, where he also repeated a promise to form "a new federal task force on fighting anti-Christian bias", which would investigate "harassment and persecution against Christians in America".
51% : Trump is appealing to a specific type of Christian, Rev Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president and CEO of Interfaith Alliance, said in a statement.
46% : I think Trump is dialing up religious dog whistles, and sometimes just straight up whistles to really galvanize and submit that religion's religious support.
44% : Du Mez said Trump "has been unsettled by what's transpired in the last couple of weeks, that's been very clear".
42% : Those people, who include an array of religious leaders, see Trump in religious terms and have attached "spiritual narratives" to him: one example being the comparison of Trump to King Cyrus, who, according to the Bible, liberated the Jews from Babylonian captivity, despite himself being a Persian ruler.
42% : The main takeaway from the speech, Du Mez said, was the lingering fear over what Trump has planned if he wins a second term.
41% : "The assassination attempt, Taylor said, "added even more certainty for these folks that God wants Trump to be elected".
39% : Taylor said there is a distinction between Christians who merely support Trump and those - like the people at the Believers' Summit - who have a "religious attachment" to the former president.
38% : The bond between Trump and Christian nationalists has now deepened to the extent that Trump is comfortable with comparing himself with their messiah, while some on the religious right have come to believe that the one-term president has been chosen, or anointed, by God himself, especially after a recent failed assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.
37% : the truth is the religious voters who have a religious attachment to Trump are not just voters - they're force multipliers," Taylor said.
37% : "The leaning in has continued since Trump made his incendiary speech at the Believers' Summit.
33% : Fears that Trump would be an authoritarian leader if elected seemed to be realized last week, when he told a group of Christian supporters they "would not have to vote" in four years if he becomes president.
28% : But she said it was impossible to say whether Trump had recalibrated his speech in response to Harris replacing Biden on the Democratic ticket.
27% : Raushenbush said Trump is trying to reinforce his popularity with the religious right, who do not represent every person of faith.
23% : "If somebody believes that it is God's will for Donald Trump to be elected, and they believe that there are demonic and satanic forces pushing back against God's will, and that they need to be active and pushing against [those things] to see Trump elected.
17% : "My theory would be that since Harris has entered the race, Trump has recognized that he's on shakier ground," said Matthew D Taylor, author of The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy.
17% : That language is unprecedented for a US presidential candidate, and I think it's important to say that, because Trump is always saying weird things, and it's important to just put down that marker," she said.
15% : On Truth Social, meanwhile, Trump has accused Harris of being "anti-Catholic" and made a direct appeal to Catholics as he tries to expand his religious support.
9% : Over the past couple of weeks, as Harris has posed a threat that Republicans apparently didn't see coming, and Trump has been questioned over appointing JD Vance as his running mate, he has looked for the support of these religious groups.
2% : Tim Scott, the South Carolina senator, suggested that it was "the devil"; Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Arkansas governor, said "God almighty" had saved Trump; and Ben Carson claimed that God had "lowered a shield of protection over Donald Trump".

*Our bias meter rating uses data science including sentiment analysis, machine learning and our proprietary algorithm for determining biases in news articles. Bias scores are on a scale of -100% to 100% with higher negative scores being more liberal and higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral. The rating is an independent analysis and is not affiliated nor sponsored by the news source or any other organization.