Trump attacks the pope, getting into trouble with his Catholic base

“I am disheartened that the President chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father. Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician.”

“I don't want a pope who thinks it's okay for Iran to have nuclear weapons. I don't want a pope who thinks it's terrible to attack Venezuela. And I don't want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States, because I am doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do.” In short, Donald Trump does not want a pope like Leo XIV. On Sunday night, in a post on Truth Social, he launched an attack against the latter with a ferocity unprecedented in US-Vatican relations.

“Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise. He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.” He added that the Pope was “weak on crime,” “catering to the Radical Left,” that he should “focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician” and that this was “hurting the Catholic Church.”

He later doubled down to reporters who asked him about the post as soon as he stepped off the plane bringing him back to Washington after a........

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