President Joe Biden's less-than-ideal approval ratings among Christian groups could spell trouble for his reelection aspirations, according to one respected religion analyst.
Biden's 2023 approval rating among Christian groups, with statistics provided by the Cooperative Election Study, were:
- White evangelicals 18%
- Non-white evangelicals 45%
- Mainline Protestants 43%
- Black Protestants 71%
- White Catholics 39%
- Non-white Catholics 56%
- Mormon 20%
- Orthodox Christians 32%
One key takeaway is Biden's standing with non-white evangelicals.
"In 2021, Biden was barely underwater with this group: 48% approval – 52% disapproval," Ryan Burge wrote Monday on his Substack. "It was the same in 2022. In the most recent data his unfavorables have crept up to 55%.
"That's not a good sign for a president who needs to win in places like Arizona. Going from -4 to -10 among non-white evangelicals should be a bit of wake-up call to his reelection team."
Biden also should be concerned about his standing with Black Protestants.
"There's not a bunch of good news for the Democrats when looking at Black Protestants, either. In fact, this is very bad news for the incumbent," wrote Burge, an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. "He was +60 among Black Protestants in 2021. That has now declined to +42.
"That is certainly a positive tilt, but Black Protestants seem less enamored with the president today than they did when he was first elected. His strongly approval percentage dropped from 37% to 30% between 2021 and 2023."
Biden, a Catholic, has a 60% unfavorability rating among fellow white members of his church.
"His head is above water among Catholics of color, but that is trending in the wrong direction," Burge wrote. "His approval rating was 63% in 2021. It was 56% in both 2022 and 2023.
"His strongly disapprove percentage is about a quarter of non-white Catholics, while his strongly approve has dropped by a full ten percentage points between 2021 and 2023. Again – things are moving in the wrong direction if you want to see Biden win a second term."
Among other religious groups, Biden's approval ratings are:
- Jewish 57%
- Muslim 57%
- Buddhist 51%
- Hindu 62%
- Atheist 60%
- Agnostic 52%
Amid Israel's war against the Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Biden's approval rating among Jews remains steady.
"Jewish people still feel pretty good about President Biden," Burge wrote. "His approval rating was 57% in the latest data collected, which is essentially the same as it was back in 2021.
"There's honestly not much to report here – Jewish views of Biden are rock solid, and he's still clearly doing well with this voting bloc."