One small flurry in the blizzard of claims President Donald Trump offered during Tuesday night’s State of the Union address centered on a subject that isn’t exactly his area of expertise: religion.
“I’m very proud to say that during my time in office, both the first four years and in particular this last year, there has been a tremendous renewal in religion, faith, Christianity and belief in God,” Trump said. “This is especially true among young people, and a big part of that had to do with my great friend, Charlie Kirk, who — great guy.”
Like so many of Trump’s claims, this one is false.
Only about a quarter of adults under age 30 said they were very familiar with Kirk at the time of his death, according to polling from YouGov — an equivalent level of familiarity as was seen among those age 30 to 64. Slice that population further, recognizing that younger Americans still skew left (meaning they were unlikely to be receptive to Kirk’s pitch) and that men and Christians (and male Christians!) are only a segment of it, and the idea that a detectable resurgence in religiosity emerged within that population, driven by Kirk, seems undeniably unlikely. Overlay the fact that Kirk’s project was political, not religious — however earnest his beliefs, religion was simply a tool in his culture war fight — and Trump’s claim is impossible to treat as accurate.
Happily, we don’t need to engage in thought experiments to know that it isn’t. We have data.
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