Pastors are helping evangelicals 'disengage from Trump's movement' in 'quiet quitting' trend

An Axios report details how evangelicals and Catholics "uneasy" with President Donald Trump's rhetoric and immigration policies are "quietly quitting" the MAGA movement with the help of their pastors.

"Churches are seeing a 'quiet quitting' trend as pastors avoid political sermons and help members disengage from Trump's movement — without ostracizing family members who might still be MAGA devotees," Axios reports.

This detatchment from MAGA is catching on quickly in religious circles, according to one expert.

"We've gotten more testimonials. I'm starting to now see 'Leaving MAGA' signs popping up on billboards, overpasses, and [at] No Kings protests," says Rich Logis, a Catholic ex-Trump supporter who founded a group called Leaving MAGA.

Logis also notes that there has been a huge uptick in members of his group, with subscribers jumping from 1,500 to over 35,000 by July. Logis "linked that partly to fallout from the administration's reluctance to release the Epstein files," Axios says.

According to Axios, "federal agents grabbing U.S. citizens or unauthorized immigrants who were picking up children from school have jolted some evangelicals who backed Trump in 2024."

Some pastors and their congregations are especially angry over Trump's administration lift of bans on immigration agents going into churches to make arrests and over cuts to humanitarian aid at home and abroad.

Doug Pagitt, a pastor and executive director of the progressive Christian group Vote Common Good, tells Axios that thousands of churches have downloaded his group's support kit that gives advice on confronting Christian nationalism.

"We know that there's a lot of really quiet movements that are going on," Pagitt says.

Dave Gibbons, lead pastor of the multiethnic Newsong Church in Santa Ana, Calif., told Axios "he's talked with people quietly walking away from MAGA because of the mass deportations."

Gibbons also says that they are disassociating "quietly" because they "worry that speaking out — even when citing Scripture about helping strangers — could result in an exodus of members who back Trump."

Logis says that "those urging fellow evangelicals to quit MAGA advise family and friends not to judge or name-call."

Axios explains that this quiet quitting trend will also extend to the ballot box.

Nationwide, several moderate Christians are expected to seek office as Democrats, putting distance between themselves and MAGA at a time when Trump and his allies are leaning into Christian nationalism, they report.