How did Trump win over most of the South in the 2016 Republican primary?

[atheist4thecause]

One major thing Trump did that is very underrated is he took away the strengths of his competitors. He was never going to win on the issue of religion, but he talked about religion enough to be an acceptable candidate on the issue. Meanwhile, he dominated on other issues. I think religion is one of those black and white issues that you are either religious enough or you aren't, and you don't really get bonus points everybody is religious enough. The economy is different where no matter how good one candidate is on the economy, you always want the candidate that is best on the economy.