Trump was the first Republican nominee since Ford or H.W Bush who was not a hard line Christian theocrat. This certainly helped in the Upper Midwest, West Coast, Northeast and especially New England, which have been disgusted by GOP social Conservatism.
This is not true.
Most socially liberal, well-educated areas trended Democratic. Take a look at Massachusetts, the West Coast, the D.C. Metro, and numerous college towns. Hillary also performed very well in traditionally Republican but socially moderate areas like suburban Chicago.
Trump meanwhile achieved record performance among white Evangelicals (never mind that Trump may not be sincerely religious himself). He also overperformed among culturally conservative Democrats, which is why he turned so many rural counties Republican.
2016 clearly widened the urban-rural, social liberal-social conservative divide.
