White evangelicals are the only religious group who believe the 2020 election was stolen from President Trump, according to a new Public Religion Research Institute survey.
The poll, released Monday, found that 31 percent of all Americans believe the "2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump," while 67 percent reject the idea.
But among white evangelicals, the belief in a stolen election is popular. Exactly six in 10 (60 percent) white evangelicals believe the election was stolen – a number significantly higher than that of white Catholics (40 percent), white mainline Protestants (37 percent), Hispanic Catholics (19 percent) and black Protestants (18 percent).
The survey also found a major political divide on the issue, with 68 percent of Republicans but only 26 percent of independents and 6 percent of Democrats believing the election was stolen.
Republicans who trust Fox News (82 percent) and far-right news (97 percent) are more likely than Republicans who trust mainstream news (44 percent) to believe the election was stolen.
In light of Republicans dominating Democrats this year in contests nationwide, some conservatives have urged the Right to stop talking about the 2020 election.
"The Democrats literally lost Virginia, a state they fully controlled," syndicated radio host Erick Erickson wrote on his Facebook page. Erickson has rejected theories about a stolen election. "They lost the judiciary in PA, which they controlled. They lost down to freaking dog catcher across the nation. … Shut up about stolen elections that weren't stolen because I assure you the Democrats would have stolen some of the 2021 elections if they could have, but they could not so they did not."
Last year, Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said Trump was "endangering" his legacy by saying the election was stolen. Even before the 2020 election, Trump had said he "could lose the election only if the election were rigged," Mohler noted. Mohler compared the situation to sports.
"It is not an act of integrity to enter into an athletic or sporting competition with the claim that there is no way one could lose the meet, the match, or the game, unless the situation is rigged," Mohler said. "That would be considered illegitimate from the very beginning."
The survey involved interviews with 2,508 adults.
Related:
Mohler: Trump Is 'Endangering' His Legacy and America's Reputation with Rigged Election Comments
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Hermosa Wave
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
