Most Americans Don't Know President Obama Is A Christian: Poll

By Ashley Portero | June 23 2012 5:19 PM

Just one in three Americans can correctly identify U.S. President Barack Obama as a Christian, according to the results of a new Gallup poll, which found that considerably fewer Americans are aware of Obama's faith now than they were in 2008.

Reuters

Although Barack Obama has often referred to his Christian faith, only one-third of Americans identified the U.S. president as a Christian in a recent poll.

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Among the results of the survey of 1,004 adults released on Friday, Gallup found only 34 percent said Obama was a Christian when asked about his religious faith, while 11 percent said he was Muslim and 44 percent said they did not know.

Democrats were more likely than Republicans to be able to name a faith for Obama, and they were considerably more likely to correctly identify him as Christian. Only 3 percent of Democrats said the president was Muslim, compared with 18 percent of Republicans. However, Gallup noted that it was unclear as to whether the Republicans who named him as a Muslim truly believed it or simply said it because of the political climate surrounding the issue.

Independents, like Republicans, were also more likely to name Obama as a Muslim.

Americans are more likely to know Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's faith than Obama's. In another Gallup poll whose results were released this week, 57 percent of respondents were able to identify Romney as a Mormon.

In a Pew Research Center for the People and the Press poll conducted in 2008, most Americans -- 53 percent -- said Obama was a Christian, while 10 percent said he was a Muslim, according to USA Today.

Obama is a practicing Christian and has often labeled himself as such in his writings and interviews with the media. While living in Chicago, the president attended the Trinity University Church of Christ, headed by the controversial pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.