Make America Christian Again: Christian Nationalism and Voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election

Is a “Christian America” a More Patriarchal America? Religion, Politics, and Traditionalist Gender Ideology

“…The finding that both Christian nationalism (e.g., Whitehead et al. ) and patriarchal views of gender (Bock et al. ; Frasure‐Yokley ; Rothwell et al.…”

“…Other work highlights various other aspects of Trumpism, like Islamophobia, that have important and independent effects alongside Christian nationalism (Whitehead et al. ). Taken together, these findings help us understand the various sources of Trump's populist support.…”

Is a “Christian America” a More Patriarchal America? Religion, Politics, and Traditionalist Gender Ideology

“…Furthermore, a recent analysis demonstrates that surveys weighted to match population demographics provide accurate data on most political, economic, and social measures (Pew Research Center 2012). Please see Whitehead et al (2018a) and Perry et al (2018) for supplementary comparison tables of the 2017 BRS and the 2016 General Social Surveys.…”

“…Christian nationalism. The independent variable of interest for this analysis is a Christian nationalism index frequently used in studies on this topic (e.g., Davis 2018aDavis , 2018bPerry et al 2018;Whitehead et al 2018a). The index is constructed using six statements where respondents were asked to offer their level of agreement (Strongly disagree to Strongly agree): (1) "The federal government should advocate Christian values," (2) "The success of the United States is part of God's plan," (3) "The federal government should allow the display of religious symbols in public places," (4) "The federal government should enforce a strict separation of church and state" (reverse-coded), (5) "The federal government should declare the United States a Christian nation," and (6) "The federal government should allow prayer in public schools."…”

“…A PERSISTENT AND PROMINENT narrative deployed by Donald Trump, both as a populist candidate and as a president, is that America must return to her Christian roots (Gorski 2017b;Jenkins 2017). This appeal has resonated with a large portion of the American population, particularly older, white, working-class Christians, so much so in fact, that holding such a belief-what may be termed "Christian nationalism"-was among the strongest predictors of voting for Trump in 2016 (Stewart 2018;Whitehead, Perry, and Baker 2018a). Importantly, Christian nationalism bolsters Trump's populist appeal not merely as a direct response to Trump's self-advertisements as a defender of religious freedom, but also indirectly through its connection to other predictors of Trump support, such as racism, Islamophobia, gun rights, xenophobia, homophobia, authoritarianism, and traditional views of the family (Brubaker 2017;Davis 2018a;Mc-Daniel, Nooruddin, and Shortle 2011;Merino 2010;Whitehead 2015a, 2015b;Straughn and Feld 2010;Whitehead and Perry 2015;Whitehead, Schnabel, and Perry 2018b).…”