Vice President Kamala Harris is a Baptist who was influenced by religious traditions in her mother鈥檚 home country of India.

Former President Donald Trump grew up a mainline Presbyterian but began identifying as a nondenominational Christian near the end of his presidency.

Despite that, few Americans see the presidential candidates as particularly Christian, according to a new survey conducted Sept. 12-16 by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. Only 14% of U.S. adults say the word 鈥淐hristian鈥� describes Harris or Trump 鈥渆xtremely鈥� or 鈥渧ery鈥� well.

Strikingly, that appears to matter little to part of Trump鈥檚 loyal base: white evangelical Protestants. About 7 in 10 members of this group view him favorably. But only about half say Trump best represents their beliefs 鈥� around 1 in 10 say this about Harris, and one-third say neither candidate represents their religious beliefs 鈥� and around 2 in 10 say 鈥淐hristian鈥� describes him extremely or very well.

鈥淭hey really don鈥檛 care about, is he religious or not,鈥� said R. Marie Griffith, a religion and politics professor at Washington University in St. Louis.

The survey results represent the shift in how white evangelicals now talk about morality and religion in politics, said Griffith. She pointed to a white evangelical culture that takes care of its own, but sees liberal outsiders as evil, and therefore, support for a Democrat is unimaginable to many.

Evangelical leaders, she said, are pushing this idea that, 鈥渢his is God鈥檚 man, and we can鈥檛 ask why. We don鈥檛 have to ask why. It doesn鈥檛 matter if he鈥檚 moral, it doesn鈥檛 matter if he鈥檚 religious. It doesn鈥檛 matter if he lies compulsively. It鈥檚 for the greater good that we get him re-elected.鈥�

At the Republican National Convention, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a conservative Christian and Trump鈥檚 former White House press secretary, invoked God when she addressed the first assassination attempt against him.

鈥淕od Almighty intervened because America is one nation under God, and he is certainly not finished with President Trump,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd our country is better for it.鈥�

Anthea Butler, professor of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said white evangelicals likely see him as instrumental to their goals, such as his appointment of conservative, anti-abortion justices to the Supreme Court.

鈥淗e鈥檚 their guy no matter what,鈥� said Butler.

For the head of the Democratic ticket, a large majority 鈥� three-quarters 鈥� of Harris鈥� fellow Black Protestants view her favorably and 6 in 10 say she best represents their religious beliefs. But only around 4 in 10 say 鈥淐hristian鈥� describes her very or extremely well. That鈥檚 still higher than the share of Democrats overall who think this about Harris, at around one-quarter.

Butler is not surprised that esteem for Trump is low among Black Protestants, and that they are more likely to see Harris, a Baptist with influences from the spiritual tradition of her mother鈥檚 native India, as Christian.

鈥淚 think African Americans have a better understanding about interfaith families, because it happens a lot with us,鈥� she said.

Overall, about half of Americans surveyed said that Christian at least 鈥渟omewhat鈥� described Harris, while about one-third said so about Trump.

Griffith questioned if one reason so few Americans see Harris as particularly Christian, is because they just don鈥檛 know much about her yet. Harris joined the race late, becoming the Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden was pressured to step away in July.

The Black Church PAC, a progressive group, is now trying to mobilize voters for Harris. On a recent online discussion hosted by the PAC, the Rev. Traci Blackmon, a Missouri-based United Church of Christ minister, encouraged pastors to ask every Sunday for congregants to pull out their phones and check their voter registration status, and to prepare to use the church bus to give rides to the polls.

鈥淜amala Harris is not perfect 鈥� no one is perfect. But what she is, is competent. What she is, is prepared. What she is, is qualified. 鈥� What she is, is she鈥檚 faithful to the things she says she will do and courageous enough to say what she won鈥檛 do,鈥� said Blackmon.

Neither candidate fared particularly well when Americans were asked if they鈥檇 use the words 鈥渉onest鈥� or 鈥渕oral鈥� to describe them. Around one-third say those words describe Harris extremely or very well, and about 15% say the same for Trump. Adding in those who say the words 鈥渟omewhat鈥� describe the candidates raises the levels to more than half for Harris and about one-third for Trump.

鈥淚 wonder if speaks to just a deep cynicism about politics 鈥� that people are really so convinced that all politicians are liars,鈥� said Griffith.

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The poll of 2,028 adults was conducted September 12-16, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC鈥檚 probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.