Black Voters as Responsive as White Voters to White Christian Nationalist Rhetoric, Study Finds
PRRI Study Examines 'How Christian Nationalist Rhetoric Can Influence Elections Across Race'
Black Americans may be just as responsive to White Christian nationalist rhetoric as White Americans, according to a national survey experiment funded by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) examining how such rhetoric can influence elections across racial groups.
The experiment, conducted by PRRI Public Fellows Allyson Shortle, Ph.D., and Michael R. Fisher Jr., Ph.D., presented Black, White, and Hispanic respondents with a hypothetical town council election. Participants were randomly assigned to read profiles of fictional male candidates — either with a neutral platform or one promoting Christian nationalist themes — and whose race was signaled through names such as Jake Johnson (White), Jamal Jackson (Black), and José González (Hispanic).
Among Black respondents, an average of 63% said they would turn out to vote across both candidate types. That figure rose to 71% when the candidate was a White Christian nationalist, closely trailing White respondents at 72%.
The study concludes that Christian nationalist rhetoric’s mobilizing effect depends partly on the messenger’s race, with Black and Hispanic voters more responsive when it comes from White and Hispanic candidates, respectively. Overall, the data suggest that, across all groups, voters were more likely to be motivated when the messenger was White.
