Over the weekend, Donald Trump raged out on Pope Leo/Bob, declaring the pope to be “weak on crime” and “terrible on foreign policy.” As we’ve documented for a full decade, Trump is criminally stupid and evil incarnate, not to mention fully in the throes of dementia. Trump’s beef with Pope Bob is indefensible, and yet… all of the most loyal MAGA cucks are doing their best to defend it. Enter JD Vance, the anti-Midas Touch, the man who reverses right-wing fortunes with a swipe of guyliner and a pompous “well actually.” Vance wasn’t content to blow the Iran negotiations or watch as Viktor Orban, the Hungarian fascist he endorsed, lost a national election. Vance had to go on Fox News to defend Trump’s Pope Bob rant. Vance said the funniest f–king thing too, it might be even funnier than “the Pope is weak on crime.”
Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism as an adult, is advising Pope Leo XIV to “stick to matters of morality.”
During a stop on Fox News on Monday, April 13, Vance was asked about President Donald Trump’s recent Truth Social post criticizing the first American pope. Vance at first acknowledged that Pope Leo and Trump, 79, would have policy disagreements before sharing what he thought was “best” for the Vatican to do.
“I certainly think that in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality,” Vance, 41, told Fox News’ Brett Baier. “To stick to matters of, you know, what’s going on in the Catholic Church and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy. But when they’re in conflict, they’re in conflict.”
“I don’t worry too much about it, Brett,” Vance continued, before suggesting that disagreements between Pope Leo, 70, and Trump could happen in the future.
On Sunday, April 12, Trump posted a long rant on Truth Social about the pontiff, calling him “WEAK on Crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy.”
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote. “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country.”
The president later wrote that he does not “want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do.”
In response, Leo told reporters on Monday that he has “no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do,” per The New York Times.
“I’m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today,” Leo told reporters, later adding that he will continue to speak out against war, referring to the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran.
“Too many people are suffering in the world today,” Leo later said. “Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way.”
The reason Trump is so bothered by Pope Bob is because Bob isn’t a politician, nor can Bob be influenced by Trump’s regular mob tactics, tactics which Trump tends to employ with international leaders. That’s why Vance was sent out to cry about how the pope needs to “stick to matters of morality,” as if these are not some of the greatest moral crises of the 21st century: immigration, war, nuclear proliferation, extrajudicial killing, the rise of fascism, false prophets in the form of cult leaders, and on and on. Instead of arguing that “the pope has every right to say whatever he wants and we have the right to ignore him,” they’ve got that rancid Cabbage Doll on Fox News claiming that the pope doesn’t have the right to TEACH THE GOSPEL.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
