Trump may be the least religious GOP candidate — but evangelicals still love him

Donald Trump may not be the most religious candidate in the GOP field, but a new Pew Research Center poll out Wednesday suggests evangelicals are willing to vote for him anyway.

The poll reveals that just 5 percent of Republicans view Trump as very religious, compared to fellow Republicans Ben Carson with 47 percent, Ted Cruz with 30 percent, and Marco Rubio with 20 percent. Even Hillary Clinton is seen as more religious, with 10 percent.

Yet, in what Time calls a break with an old "political rule" that "only devout candidates can attract religious voters," Trump tied with Carson in first for the highest share of white evangelical voters who see him as a good leader.

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"Many Republicans think Trump would be a good president despite his perceived lack of religiousness," Pew reports. "The pattern is very different for other leading GOP candidates; virtually all Republicans who think Cruz, Rubio, and Carson would be successful presidents (and who express a view about their religiousness) also say they view those candidates as at least somewhat religious."

The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points, comes a day after evangelical leader and Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. endorsed Trump.