Mike Pence, the Christian nationalist who may be the root of Trump’s support among Evangelicals/Screenshot

Political scientists—and law enforcement agents—have spent the last 18 months parsing information to determine Donald Trump’s surprising win in the 2016 election.

Among the things they’ve looked at include working-class white people’s economic stress, racism and fear of immigrants.

But new research from the journal Sociology of Religion points out that when when socioeconomic, demographic and racism are controlled for, one of the strongest predictors of support for Trump is Christian nationalist attitudes. That is, these are people who believe that America is a “Christian nation” and want to see politicians push policies that encourage the government to implement their own agenda. Symbolic defense of the United States’ perceived Christian heritage is their biggest motivator.

“Christian nationalism operates as a unique and independent ideology that can influence political actions by calling forth a defense of mythological narratives about America’s distinctively Christian heritage and future,” the paper reads.

Speaking to Salon, Andrew Whitehead, one of the authors of the piece, implied that […]

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