Evangelicals for Harris: A Risky Move to Challenge Trump’s Evangelical Base

Presbyterian Pastor Lee Scott from Butler, Pennsylvania, made headlines when he publicly endorsed Kamala Harris for president during the Evangelicals for Harris Zoom call on Aug. 14. Scott, a farmer and pastor, acknowledged the risk he was taking by speaking out against former President Donald Trump, especially in a town where a would-be assassin shot Trump in July.

Scott’s decision to endorse Harris was influenced by the attack in his community and the normalization of “vitriol” and “acceptable violence” in politics by Trump. Despite Trump’s strong support among white evangelical voters, Scott and a small coalition of evangelicals are looking to pull their fellow believers away from the former president’s fold.

The Evangelicals for Harris group, formerly known as Evangelicals for Biden, is working to convince evangelicals who feel uncomfortable voting for Trump to support Harris instead. With modest funding in 2020, the group targeted evangelical voters in swing states, and this election, they are expanding their operation and looking to spend a million dollars on targeted advertisements.

The Harris campaign has also hired the Rev. Jen Butler, a Presbyterian minister, to lead its religious outreach. They are focusing on engaging faith voters, especially Black Protestants and Latino evangelicals in key swing states, as well as Catholics, mainline Protestants, and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Despite the challenges of convincing evangelicals to support a Democrat, the Evangelicals for Harris group is working to show that political and religious identities are not a package deal. They hope to redefine evangelicalism and create a more inclusive and diverse vision for their faith.