A new study by the Public Religion Research Institute shows that while support for Christian nationalism in the United States remained relatively steady between 2022 and 2024, Hispanic Protestants were the only group with a dramatic increase in support. Christian nationalism in this study was defined by support for a number of statements, such as “The U.S. government should declare America a Christian nation.” Hispanic Protestants, by and large, are part of Evangelical and Pentecostal movements in the United States, and now a majority (55%) of Hispanic Protestants support Christian nationalism, up 12% since 2022. This reflects both international religious trends and distinctive national trends in the United States.
If there is an overarching story about Latino/as’ politics in 2025, it is that they are a rapidly changing and conflicted electorate. Religious affiliation and country of origin are strongly correlated with Latinos’ political preferences across a diverse political spectrum. For instance, only 25% of Hispanic Catholics support Christian nationalist views. And it has long been known that Latinos of Cuban origin prefer Republicans more strongly than most other Latinos.
To find out more about how rising support for Christian nationalism among Hispanic Protestants illustrates key trends in Latino politics and religion, I spoke with Erica Ramirez and Eli Valentin, members of the Vote is Sacred Fellowship with Interfaith America, which brings together leaders from diverse religious and ideological backgrounds to promote peaceful democratic engagement. Dr. Valentin comes from a Puerto Rican community in New York City, and specializes in the history of Latino politics in New York as the director of Latino Studies at Virginia Union University. Dr. Ramirez is a fifth-generation Mexican American from Texas, a sociologist of religion who studies global Pentecostalisms, and Senior Director of Research at Louisville Institute.
Ramirez points out that American Latino Evangelicals and Protestants attend churches that hold nationalist beliefs, but are much more ethnically diverse than other Christian churches. Their churches often explicitly prioritize and platform racial diversity, which strongly differentiates them from the white Christian nationalists that get disproportionate coverage in the US media. Ramirez points to wider global trends of Christian nationalism, including evangelical groups in Latin American countries with spiritual agendas for their respective nations. She offers the example of Christian nationalism in Brazil, where many Evangelicals and Pentecostals who believe that Brazil is a sinful nation in need of redemption participated in the 2023 insurrection. Brazilian Christian nationalists contend (through prayer and politics) for a Christian spiritual agenda for Brazil. They believe that God divinely ordained the US for global leadership, but see themselves as part of a geopolitical schema that revolves first and foremost around Israel, not White Christian America. Thus, Ramirez points out that in the US, attitudes toward Israel might sharply divide Hispanic Christian nationalists from white nationalists. Belief in a divine plan for Israel in the end times is broadly shared by many Christian nationalists across countries, and Hispanic Protestant Christian nationalists would be more likely to support military intervention in the Middle East, while white nationalists would favor isolationism.
Yet since Latino Evangelicals’ church experiences and expressions in the United States are heavily shaped by white Evangelical culture, their experience of Christian nationalism is also influenced by the white nationalist sentiments that overlap with Christian nationalism in the US. Eli Valentin points out that Latino Evangelicals and Pentecostals have moved to homogenize their churches and worship styles with mainstream white Evangelical culture in the last few decades. Distinctly indigenous and Latino/a worship styles, like corito hymns, have largely fallen by the wayside in favor of more mainstream worship styles. So, increasing support for Christian nationalist sentiments is likely driven in part by wider trends of adopting beliefs and practices from white Evangelical Christianity more broadly. For comparison, white Evangelical Protestants are the only other religious group surveyed by PRRI in which a majority (66%) hold Christian nationalist beliefs. As a theologian, Valentin calls for Latino/as to “retrieve their prophetic legacy,” champion liberation, and take a distinctive stand against Christian nationalism of any variety. Civic participation is more than just voting, and Valentin notes that many Latino communities have deep traditions of community organizing. The recent protests in Los Angeles against Trump’s executive orders on immigration relied heavily on the mobilization of Latino organizers and marchers. Hosting a protest large enough to shut down highways requires networks and leadership that Latino communities have long cultivated. Valentin sees Latino communities as uniquely positioned to provide national leadership for protests and social movements over the next few decades in American life.
Ramirez and Valentin are passionate about building respect for Latinos’ religious and political engagement in the US. They want people to better understand how Latinos’ civic identity is shaped by religious affiliation, political party affiliation, and country of origin. Ramírez highlights the disproportionate amount of electoral power that religious Latino voters now wield in electorally rich states like Texas and Florida. The 12% growth of Hispanic Christian Nationalists overlaps with the political reddening of South Texas, where several very predominantly Hispanic counties turned out in record numbers for Trump in 2024. Evangelical Protestants, as a resilient base for Trump, have not only delivered his first and second campaign victories: they have bequeathed Trump a multiracial coalition and led a racial realignment within our two-party system.
Leslie Virnelson is a Democracy Fellow with Interfaith America.
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