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This past weekend, a prominent pro-Trump megachurch pastor said he believes the president has a better understanding of the Bible than Pope Leo XIV.

In comments to Fox News, Pastor Robert Jeffress, who heads the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, reacted to news of a meeting between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Leo, which happened earlier this month after weeks of Trump attacking Leo over his antiwar stance. In a statement, the Vatican explained that Rubio and Leo had “an exchange of views on the regional and international situation,” referring to the joint U.S.-Israel war on Iran and in Lebanon.

Jeffress, who has openly supported Trump since 2016, having previously served on his evangelical advisory board after he was first elected president, condemned the pope’s antiwar stance.

“The Pope is a good man, he is sincere in his faith, but he is sincerely wrong when it comes to Iran,” Jeffress said, repeating a false line parroted by many of Trump’s defenders— that Iran was just “weeks” away from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and that he had “no choice but to act.”

According to U.S. military intelligence, Iran posed no real threat before the war began, and several experts say it likely would have taken years (not weeks) for the country to develop a nuclear weapon. Some commentators have noted that the decision to launch the joint U.S.-Israel war against Iran further incentivizes the country to pursue nuclear weapons down the road, as a deterrent against future attacks.

Pope Leo Continues to Criticize War After Trump Attacks Him in Social Media Rant

“It looks like President Trump has a better understanding of what the Bible teaches about the role of government than the pope has,”........

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