CV NEWS FEED // Observant Catholics who attend Mass at least once a month voted for Donald Trump rather than Joe Biden in the 2020 election, according to a new study.
The Pew Research Center reported that Trump, a Presbyterian, won 59 percent of all voters who attend church this frequently, compared to 40 percent for Biden. By contrast, Biden won 58 percent of Americans who attend church only a few times a year or less, compared to 40 percent for Trump.
Despite Biden’s status as the nation’s second Catholic president, Trump also won the overall Catholic vote by a margin of 50 to 49.
Trump additionally won 63 percent of white Catholics who attend at least monthly, compared to 36 percent for Biden, and 53 percent of white Catholics who attend Mass less frequently in comparison to 47 percent for Biden.
Overall, Trump won the white Catholic vote 57 to 42 percent over Biden, who gained 11 percentage points over the 31 percent that Hillary Clinton won in 2016.
In spite of Biden’s self-cultivated image as a “devout Catholic” who attends Mass weekly while promoting abortion and other policies that violate the Church’s pro-life teachings, the survey made it clear that the majority of devout Catholics in the pews do not support him.
The Pew survey also reinforces the strong criticism that Biden has received from many U.S. bishops for his promotion of abortion on demand, a violation of Catholic doctrine that considers abortion in all circumstances to be immoral. In June, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted overwhelmingly to draft a document that may ultimately provide guidelines for denying communion to politicians like Biden who publicly contradict church teaching.
Trump also won 84 percent of the white evangelical Protestant vote and 57 percent of the non-evangelical (mainline) Protestant vote overall, as well as majorities of Christians who attend church both frequently and infrequently in both categories. Pew noted that white evangelicals tend to attend services more frequently than other Christian groups and races.
In the only Christian group where he scored a decisive majority of voters, Biden won 91 percent of the black Protestant vote compared to 9 percent for Trump, although Pew curiously did not break this number down by church attendence.
White “religious nones” with no religious affiliation voted strongly for Biden over Trump by a margin of 68 to 28 percent.
Biden won 71 percent of the religiously unaffiliated vote overall, including 86 percent of the atheist/agnostic vote and 61 percent of the “nothing in particular” vote.
Biden additionally won 64 percet of the “other faith” vote that covers non-Christians such as Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus.
The Pew study did not break down voting numbers for Hispanics or Asian-Americans.
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