President Trump’s Narrow Religious Appeal
According to a recent report by Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, Maggie Siddiqi, and Samantha Behar, President Donald Trump and his administration have harmed many faith-based communities with their policies. The authors point to Trump’s hardline stance against abortion, which is in line with many white evangelical Protestants, but note how some communities of faith have evolved on the issue. They cite PRRI data which shows that “majorities of white mainline Protestants and Black Protestants say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, as well as a plurality of Catholics.” The authors conclude that Trump has catered his policies to appeal to some religious orders but the “impact on religious communities at large is a different story.”
Emmys Filled with Historic Firsts
In a 2017 PRRI/MTV survey, young people ages 15-24 chimed in on whether the entertainment industry promoted a negative stereotype of different underrepresented groups. Two-thirds (66%) of respondents said the industry promotes a negative stereotype of Black people, and an additional 45% said that the entertainment industry promotes a negative stereotype of women. During Sunday night’s virtual Emmy Awards, Zendaya and Regina King won awards for lead actress in a drama series and lead actress in a limited series or movie, respectively. “Out of the 18 acting awards handed out at the 72nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, nine of them went to Black actors,” notes Variety.
Next Nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court Expected This Week
In 2019, PRRI asked Americans if they had a favorable opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court. A majority (52%) of Americans held favorable views of the court, 28% held unfavorable views, and 20% said they had not heard of the nation’s highest court. On Monday, President
Trump announced that his nominee to replace the late Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would likely be announced this week. “I think it will be on Friday or Saturday and we want to pay respect, it looks like we will have services on Thursday or Friday, as I understand it, and I think we should, with all due respect for Justice Ginsburg, wait for services to be over,” the president said. T
rump’s move to name a nominee has gained support from many Republican senators despite past statements that opposed appointing a justice close to a presidential election.
Brownstein: Can Majority Rule Survive in the U.S.?
According to
Ronald Brownstein at CNN, majority rule could be a thing of the past in American politics. Brownstein points out that it is possible that Republican senators could confirm three justices to the U.S. Supreme Court since Trump took office in January 2017, despite representing less than half of the U.S. population. Brownstein notes that “43 of the 53 Republican senators were elected by the 29 states in which White Christians,
according to data from the Public Religion Research Institute, compose at least 47% of the population; those same 29 states accounted for 25 of the 30 states that Trump carried last time.” Brownstein concludes that “the 2020s might see the most prolonged conflict… between a rising majority and an entrenched minority that is trying to fortify its power by any means necessary against the demographic waves that are mounting against it.”
Join PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones for Virtual Discussions of ‘White Too Long’
