US election 2020: Biden-Trump campaigns and the role of faith in American elections

US election 2020: Joe Biden or Donald Trump? 15 days to go for the big election day, and faith has now taken the centre stage. Both the president and his challenger are eager to showcase how their campaigns are guided by faith.

All of a sudden, the US president loves going to churches. His rival Joe Biden is attending mass ceremonies. The US president attended a church services at the International Church of Las Vegas, an evangelical mega-church with contemporary musical programmes.

Trump has always worked closely with evangelical Christians and has put their causes of restricting abortion and preserving gun ownership on top of his political agenda.

Addressing the gathering, one of the pastors said that at 4:30 the lord told her that Trump was going to be the president again.

“At 4.30 (am), the Lord said to me,Ii am going to give your president a second win. (cheering) this has three meanings, a win. And you will be the president again”, Denise Goulet, Senior Associate Pastor, International Church of Las Vegas.

The congregation then began praying for their president. As they prayed, Donald Trump kept himself busy counting money before he donated it.

After much deliberation, Trump settled for 20 dollars and dropped them in a bucket titled “change for change”. His critics say, the billionaire president should have donated more. Trump's supporters say - they couldn't care less.

“Everything he has promised to do, he has taken care of. The best economy that we have had in quite a while, he has built the wall, umm....What am I missing?”, David Tainowitz, a Trump supporter said.

“I do honestly feel that what's happening now, with the most corrupt man to ever have run for president, in John, Joe, John, I’m getting like him, Joe Biden, then you deserve to vote for him and you get what you get. I think Trump is the best man we have ever had”, another supporter said. 

Last week, Joe Biden was spotted leaving a mass ceremony in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden has frequently stressed on how his Catholic faith has guided his actions as a public official. On Sunday, he participated in a virtual event with African-American faith leaders. He asked the leaders to pray for him to have the capacity to carry out his job when he becomes the president.

“Pray I have the capacity to step up and do this job, because four more years of Donald Trump will fundamentally change the nature of this country for several generations”, Biden was heard saying.

Donald Trump is trying to woo white evangelicals., Biden is catering to black protestants. Both their campaigns are working hard to court other key religious blocks.

But how much of a role does religion really play in the US election?

The Pew Research Centre recently conducted a survey of the key religious blocks. 78 per cent of white evangelical protestants said they will vote for Trump if the election were held today. Only 17 per cent prefer Biden. 

White non-evangelical protestants: 53 per cent said they would vote for Trump. 43 per cent said they lean towards the Democrats. 

Among white catholic voters, Trump is again ahead by 8 percentage points. 52 per cent in this group said they would vote for Trump and 44 per cent favoured Biden. Among black protestant voters, 90 per cent favour Biden, while only 9 per cent say they would vote for Trump. Among hispanic catholics too, Biden leads with 67 per cent favouring him, and 26 per cent saying they would vote for Trump. Among Jewish Americans, 27 per cent say they will vote for Trump, and over 70 per cent say they prefer Biden.

Among atheist and agnostic voters, only 11 per cent say they will vote for Trump, while 83 per cent say they prefer Biden.

What do the figures tell?

There are deep divisions among white Christians and almost everybody else. Most of them support Donald Trump, and they account for roughly 44 per cent of registered American voters.

Will they manage to give their president another term?