The political power of white Evangelicals; plus, Biden and the Black church

For decades, Evangelicals have propped up Republican presidents. And while church attendance has fallen across the board, Evangelicals are still making waves politically; they just helped deliver Trump a historic win in the Iowa caucus. But the political bent of Evangelicals begs for closer inspection because white Americans who align with Trump are more likely to start identifying as Evangelical, even if some of them no longer sit up in the pews. NPR Political Correspondent Sarah McCammon joins the show to dig into host Brittany Luse's question: are Evangelicals now a religious group or a political one?

Then, after calls for a ceasefire interrupted President Biden's speech at Mother Emanuel AME Church, many people denounced the protest saying that it was not the right time or place. But Brittany wonders; if not there, then where? She sits down with Dr. Anthea Butler, religious scholar and chair of the department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, to dive into the roots of political activism within the Black church. They also look at the complicated relationship between Democrats and the Black church.

This episode was produced by Barton Girdwood, Alexis Williams, Liam McBain and Corey Antonio Rose. It was edited by Jessica Placzek and Bilal Qureshi. Engineering support came from Carleigh Strange and Gilly Moon. Fact checking support came from Susie Cummings and Sarah Knight. Our executive producer is Veralyn Williams. Our VP of programming is Yolanda Sangweni.