Why Mormons are Voting for Donald Trump | Ep. 1356

Introduction

The 2020 presidential election presented American Latter-day Saints with a question that would have seemed absurd a generation earlier. How could followers of a faith that emphasizes moral cleanliness, sexual propriety, and compassionate immigration policy rally behind a candidate known for vulgarity, infidelity, and harsh border rhetoric?

Mormon Stories Podcast host John Dehlin attempted to answer this exact question in a two-part episode recorded days before the November vote. Rather than polemic, Dehlin offered something increasingly rare in American political discourse: a genuine curiosity about why Mormons are voting for Donald Trump without attempting to debunk or dehumanize the choice. The resulting conversation reveals a religious community in the process of decoupling spiritual values from political calculations.

Background: The Mormon Political Fragment

The episode arrives at a moment when Mormon political identity has grown complicated. Once reliably Republican, the Latter-day Saint electorate had splintered by 2020. High-profile church members like Mitt Romney represented the Never-Trump wing, while Utah itself delivered a significant share of its vote to independent candidate Evan McMullin in 2016.

Dehlin assembled a panel that reflected this fracture. Participants ranged from active temple recommend holders to former branch presidents who had left the faith. The group included a gay man divorced from a mixed-orientation marriage and registered Republicans who had previously supported Jon Huntsman in primaries but found themselves pulling the lever for Trump in the general.