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Which major evangelical leaders publicly endorsed Donald Trump in 2016, 2020, and 2024?
Executive summary
Major evangelical figures who publicly backed Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 — and who resurfaced as visible supporters in 2024 — include high-profile pastors, televangelists and faith advisers such as Robert Jeffress, Paula White, Franklin Graham, Ralph Reed and others; reporting and lists note many of the same religious-right leaders rallied for Trump across the three cycles [1] [2] [3]. Available sources emphasize a broad continuity of institutional and grassroots evangelical support — exit-poll style measures show roughly 75–81% of white evangelicals voting for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and similarly strong backing in 2024 [4] [5] [6].
1. Who the reporting names most often: repeat endorsers and visible faith advisers
Contemporary coverage highlights a core set of evangelical figures who played visible roles across cycles: Robert Jeffress is repeatedly noted as an early and prominent 2016 endorser and ongoing ally [1] [7]; Paula White served as Trump’s spiritual adviser in his first administration and organized faith mobilization in later cycles [2]; Ralph Reed is named as a longtime evangelical political activist who helped mobilize support in 2016 and beyond [8]. Franklin Graham has been a vocal supporter who praised Trump’s presidency and embraced his election claims, even while saying he might not formally endorse during primaries [3]. News outlets and faith-focused reporting repeatedly cite these leaders as central to evangelical alignment with Trump [3] [2] [1].
2. Institutional and grassroots mechanisms: how leaders translated endorsement into turnout
Reporting describes multiple organized channels — Faith and Freedom Coalition (Ralph Reed), Paula White’s National Faith Advisory Board, and other get-out-the-vote operations — that turned religious leadership into practical campaign outreach for Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024 [2]. Wired and related coverage identify networks such as ReAwaken America tour participants and established evangelical coalitions that funded events, ran voter guides and held faith summits to rally supporters [2]. These mechanisms help explain persistently high evangelical turnout for Trump across cycles [2] [8].
3. What polling and exit data show about the scale of evangelical support
Scholars and news outlets cite Pew, Edison Research and other measures showing roughly 76–81% of white evangelicals voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020; more recent 2024 analyses and exit-poll syntheses indicate similar or only slightly changed majorities among white born‑again Christians, summarized as “about 8 in 10” in multiple outlets [4] [9] [6]. Newsweek and PRRI figures cited in reporting put evangelical approval for Trump near 80–81% in 2024, underscoring continuity [5].
4. Disagreements and fractures within the evangelical world
Coverage also documents dissent and hesitation: some influential evangelicals publicly distanced themselves or delayed formal endorsements in 2024. For example, reporting notes Jeffress and others at times held off on immediate 2024 endorsements or voiced reservations even while being long‑time Trump allies [1] [7]. Business Insider and Axios pieces recount how a subset of leaders turned against or paused support after Trump’s 2024 announcement, indicating the movement is not monolithic [7] [1].
5. Names cited by multiple outlets versus broader lists
While Robert Jeffress, Paula White, Ralph Reed and Franklin Graham appear frequently across the provided pieces as central evangelical backers [1] [2] [3], other reports and compiled lists (including crowdsourced lists like Wikipedia’s endorsement page) expand the roster to figures such as Jerry Falwell Jr., Lou Engle and Louder grassroots pastors — but those wider compilations are less consistent across news outlets [10] [3]. Baptist News Global and Colorado Times Recorder explicitly say “many of the evangelical leaders who backed Trump in 2016 and/or 2020 are back on board for his 2024 run,” naming specific pastors and commentators in their examples [3] [11].
6. Limitations of current reporting and what’s not fully enumerated
Available sources do not provide a single definitive, authoritative roster that lists every major evangelical leader who endorsed Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024; much reporting highlights prominent leaders and broader coalitions rather than producing exhaustive, uniform name-by-name comparisons across all three cycles [3] [2] [10]. Where one outlet emphasizes a handful of leading figures, others catalogue broader networks or cite polling that measures mass evangelical behavior rather than individual endorsements [5] [4].
7. Bottom line for readers seeking a clear list
If you need a concrete, citable list cross-referencing endorsements in each year, start with names that multiple news outlets identify repeatedly — Robert Jeffress, Paula White, Ralph Reed, Franklin Graham — and then add others referenced in campaign endorsement compilations and faith‑movement reporting [1] [2] [3] [10]. Expect variations in coverage: some leaders publicly endorsed across all cycles; others played advisory or mobilizing roles without a uniform “endorsement” label, and some prominent evangelicals withheld or revised support in 2024 [1] [7].