Some evangelicals are "quietly quitting" Trump and MAGA

Evangelicals and Catholics uneasy with President Trump's rhetoric and immigration policies are subtly distancing themselves from MAGA — and taking some congregation members with them.Driving the news: Some churches are seeing a "quiet quitting" trend as pastors avoid political sermons and help members disengage from Trump's movement — without ostracizing family members who might still be MAGA devotees."We've gotten more testimonials. I'm starting to now see 'Leaving MAGA' signs popping up on billboards, overpasses, and [at] No Kings protests," said Rich Logis, a Catholic ex-Trump supporter who founded a group called Leaving MAGA.Catch up quick: Images of federal agents grabbing U.S. citizens or unauthorized immigrants who were picking up children from school have jolted some evangelicals who backed Trump in 2024.Some pastors and their followers are angry that Trump's administration has lifted bans on immigration agents going into churches to make arrests.Others are dismayed by cuts to humanitarian aid programs at home and abroad. Zoom in: Leaving MAGA has seen an uptick in downloads of its manual advising readers how to gently urge family members to quit MAGA, Logis said.This year, the group says, its subscribers jumped from 1,500 to more than 35,000 by July. Logis linked that partly to fallout from the administration's reluctance to release the Epstein files.Doug Pagitt, a pastor and executive director of the progressive Christian group Vote Common Good, tells Axios that thousands of churches have downloaded his group's support kit that gives advice on confronting Christian nationalism. "We know that there's a lot of really quiet movements that are going on," Pagitt said.Dave Gibbons, lead pastor of the multiethnic Newsong Church in Santa Ana, Calif., tells Axios he's talked with people quietly walking away from MAGA because of the mass deportations. Reality check: Precisely how many evangelicals are "quietly quitting" MAGA isn't clear — most don't announce it publicly for fear of being criticized or harassed online.Some evangelical church leaders also worry that speaking out — even when citing Scripture about helping strangers — could result in an exodus of members who back Trump, said Gibbons, a former fundamentalist.But Trump's falling approval ratings suggest cracks in his religious base, which helped drive him back into the White House.Only 48% of Latino Protestants approve of Trump's performance, a recent survey by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found. Trump won 64% of Latino Protestants' votes in 2024, PRRI says. White evangelicals still strongly approve of Trump (72%), but that's down from the 85% who voted for him last year, PRRI found. Flashback: Russell Moore, a former top official for the Southern Baptist Convention, fell out with the group's evangelical leadership in 2021 after criticizing Trump and Christian nationalism. His story has served as a warning to other conservative Christians who speak out against Trump.How it works: Those urging fellow evangelicals to quit MAGA advise family and friends not to judge or name-call, Logis said.Instead, Leaving MAGA suggests "information barters" — offering to read a right-leaning article in exchange for a family member reading a piece from a middle-of-the-road media outlet.The intrigue: Logis recalls that when he was all-in for MAGA he believed "there was some divine intervention with Trump getting elected."He saw all non-Trump supporters as enemies and fellow MAGA members as his family. That changed in 2022 after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 21 and injured 17. Logia said he slowly moved away from MAGA as those in the movement made excuses for the attack and refused to support any gun control measures. What we're watching: The quit-MAGA movement is becoming prominent enough that its impact bears watching in the 2026 and 2028 elections.Democrats haven't shown many signs of going after persuadable evangelical voters. But nationwide, several moderate Christians are expected to seek office as Democrats, putting distance between themselves and MAGA at a time when Trump and his allies are leaning into Christian nationalism.

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