White evangelical women begin tiptoeing away from Trump

GRAPEVINE, Texas — Carol Rains, a white evangelical Christian, has no regrets over her vote for President Donald Trump. She likes most of his policies and would still support him over any Democrat. But she is open to another Republican.

“I would like for someone to challenge him,” Rains said as she sipped wine recently with two other evangelical Christian women at a suburban restaurant north of Dallas. “But it needs to be somebody that’s strong enough to go against the Democrats.” Her preferred alternative: Nikki Haley, the United Nations ambassador and former South Carolina governor.

One of her friends, Linda Leonhart, agreed. “I will definitely take a look to see who has the courage to take on a job like this and do what needs to be done,” she said.

While the men in the pulpits of evangelical churches remain among

Trump’s most stalwart supporters, some of the women in the pews may be having second thoughts. As the White

House fights to silence a pornographic actress claiming an affair with Trump, and a jailed

Belarusian escort claims evidence against the U.S. president, Trump’s hold on white evangelical women may be slipping.

According to data from the Pew Research Center, support among white evangelical women in recent surveys has dropped about 13 percentage points, to 60 percent, compared with about a year ago. That is even greater than the 8-point drop among all women.

“That change is statistically significant,” said Gregory A. Smith, Pew’s associate director of research, who also noted a 9-point drop among evangelical men. “Both groups have become less approving over time.”

If that drop in support translates into a lack of enthusiasm among core Trump supporters in the midterm elections in

The women … all conceded they have cringed sometimes at Trump, citing his pettiness, impulsiveness, profanity and name calling.