Most Americans Don’t Believe God Played A Role In The Presidential Election
A majority of Americans do not believe God plays a role in presidential elections — a view that has remained consistent across several election cycles, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Wednesday.
According to the nationally representative survey conducted in May 2025, 49% of U.S. adults claimed God does not get involved in presidential elections, while another 14% said they don’t believe in God at all. About a third of respondents said election results are part of God’s overall plan, but that it doesn’t necessarily signal divine approval of the winners or their policies.
Just 4% of respondents believe Donald Trump’s 2024 victory happened because God approved of his policies. Similar views were expressed about Joe Biden’s 2020 win, with only 2% attributing it to the divine. The majority again said either that God played no role in the election or that they do not believe in God.
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“Relatively few Americans in either political party think God chose their party’s candidate to become president in 2020 or 2024 specifically because God approved of the candidate’s policies,” the study said. “Just 8% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said God chose Trump in 2024 because God approved of Trump’s policies, and just 3% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said this of Biden’s victory in 2020.”
But Republicans are more likely than Democrats to claim that election results “must be part of God’s overall plan even if God didn’t necessarily approve of the winner’s policies.”
For example, thr survey found that 44% of Republicans said Trump’s election was “part of God’s overall plan even though the results don’t necessarily mean God approved of Trump’s policies.” Only 22% of Democrats agree that Trump’s election was part of God’s plan.
These attitudes mirror findings from a 2020 Pew survey, which asked Americans to reflect on Trump’s 2016 victory and Barack Obama’s wins in 2008 and 2012. In all three elections, relatively few Americans said God directly influenced the outcome based on the candidates’ policies.
This latest survey also asked Christian respondents whether supporting or opposing Trump was essential to being a “good Christian.” A large majority — 80% — said “good Christians” can disagree about Trump, while smaller numbers said support or opposition was essential.
Despite evangelicals voting for Trump in large numbers, Pew found that “relatively few” — just 8% — who said “God chose Trump because God approves of his policies.”
Instead, 63% take the view that Trump’s election must be part of God’s overall plan, but “this doesn’t necessarily mean God endorses his policies.”
On the broader question of how religion influences political choices, most Americans said it plays a limited role. More than half (56%) said religion shapes their vote “a little” or “not at all.” At the same time, 25% said religion plays “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of a role. Another 18% said religion plays “some” role in how they vote.
The findings are part of Pew’s ongoing effort to examine the intersection of religion and public life in the United States. The survey was conducted May 5-11 and included responses from 8,937 U.S. adults.
Clemente Lisi serves as executive editor at Religion Unplugged.