The president’s offensive against the pope, followed by the image presenting himself as some kind of American Jesus, represented quite the one-two punch.
I get that many will find Trump’s offensive against the pope as predictable — this is just what he does — but compare how he lashed out at Pope Francis in 2016 to how he targeted Pope Leo XIV yesterday.
And then add in the mind-numbing American Jesus image.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-04-13T12:03:12.331Z
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/after-picking-an-ugly-fight-with-pope-trump-promotes-image-panned-as-blasphemous
A decade later, as president, the Republican decided to go even further in an offensive against Francis’ successor, Pope Leo XIV.
In a 330-word tirade published on Sunday night to his social media platform, Trump wrote, among other things:
Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy. … I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t! … Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!
.....Soon after, during a brief Q&A with reporters, Trump was asked why he “attacked” the pope. Instead of challenging the premise, the Republican replied,
“I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime, I guess. … I am not a fan of Pope Leo.”
Reporter: Why did you attack Pope Leo?
Trump: I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime I guess. We don’t like a pope who says it’s ok to have a nuclear weapon. We don’t want a pope that says crime is ok. I am not a fan of Pope Leo.
— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) 2026-04-13T01:33:12.402Z
.....To be sure, none of this was too surprising. Leo, for example, recently chastised those who invoke God as supportive of military might, saying in a homily on Palm Sunday,
“Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”...
The question was less about whether Team Trump, which has spent months clashing with the faith community, would go after the Catholic leader, and more about how. We now have an answer.
On Monday morning, aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria, the church’s first-ever American pope told The Associated Press
, “I have no fear of the Trump administration.”....
For good measure, this back-and-forth was not the Republican’s only message related to religion.
And Trump posted an image of himself as some sort of American Jesus healing people.
— Brian Kaylor (@briankaylor.bsky.social) 2026-04-13T02:02:10.235Z
On Sunday night,
Trump apparently thought it would also be a good idea to promote an image that appeared to present him as some kind of American Jesus.
“There is behavior that’s so self-evidently deranged that merely seeing it should lead to fury and disgust,” The New York Times’ David French wrote in response. “
I’m concerned, however, that some evangelicals are so influenced by Trump that they won’t unite with their Catholic brothers and sisters in response to Trump’s blasphemy and intolerable attacks on the pope, but will instead turn against them.”trump is truly crazy.
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