By Charles Igwe
Exit polls from the Washington Post, Associated Press, and NBC News revealed that President-elect, Donald Trump, announced as winner of the US elections on 6 November 2024, garnered significant support from Catholic voters in the 2024 presidential election, both nationwide and in key swing states.
The Washington Post’s poll indicates that 69% of voters who believe abortion should remain legal in most cases supported Vice President Kamala Harris, yet Trump managed to secure 28% of this demographic. Conversely, Trump captured 90% of voters who believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, while Harris held only 9%.
The Associated Press VoteCast exit poll also showed Trump leading among Catholic voters, though by a narrower seven-point margin than the Post’s poll. According to AP’s findings, Trump received 52% of the Catholic vote, while Harris received 45%.
According to the Washington Post’s exit poll, Trump won the national Catholic vote by a 15-point margin, 56% to Harris’s 41%—a notable increase from the 2020 exit polls, where Trump led then-candidate Joe Biden by just five points among Catholics, 52% to 47%.
The poll further highlighted that Catholic voters trusted Trump over Harris by a substantial 25-point margin on immigration, 57% to 32%, and by a 19-point margin on the economy, 55% to 36%. Additionally, 59% of Catholic respondents expressed concerns about Harris being “too extreme,” compared to 58% who felt similarly about Trump.
In terms of voter motivation, 73% of Catholic voters reported that they were voting primarily to support their chosen candidate, while 27% indicated their vote was more about opposing the other candidate.
