James Dobson, the founder of the group Focus on the Family, claimed Trump recently “[accepted] a relationship with Christ,” adding, “I know the person who led him to Christ.” His statement was first brought to public attention by the historian John Fea, and then picked up in The New York Times and other publications. Dobson later issued a statement identifying the person who reportedly converted Trump as the prosperity-gospel televangelist Paula White.

Whether Trump later claims to be born again or passes over the question is irrelevant. Dobson’s statement of hearsay says nothing about Trump’s faith, but it reveals a lot about how some evangelicals are trying to steel themselves to vote for Trump in the fall.

Despite the enthusiasm of the leaders who met with Trump, the real-estate mogul has stirred up significant opposition from those evangelicals who have vowed, “never Trump.” (Evangelicals’ support for Trump in the primaries has probably been overstated, too.) They find that his crudity, womanizing, narcissism, and connections to gambling, not to mention his racism and inconsistent pro-life position, fall far short of their standards. Russell Moore, the head of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, is an outspoken critic of Trump and the evangelicals who support him. Moore recently said his “primary prayer for Donald Trump is that he would first of all repent of sin and come to faith in Jesus Christ.”