Trump's Controversial Tweets and Catholic Voters

I think, uh, that we can look at it from two different

directions.

First, there's the basic political reality, uh,

that the, yes, the,

through these gestures, through these tweets, the, the,

the president is at risk

of alienating, uh, many, many Catholic voters.

He has certainly provoked a very strong reaction from the US bishops

and from bishops even around the world.

Uh, but then there's also the simple reality

that this is classic Donald Trump.

There's almost, uh, no one the, the grand political stage who goes

unscathed,

uh, from one of his tweets. Um, then we have the dimension too of the

fact that as Pope Leo himself points out, that he's not a politician.

He's not thinking in those terms, and I, I think that the, the president needs to

appreciate that.

Yes, and to criticize a pope for calling for

peace is a rather odd thing to do.

Right. Yeah.

The, the, um, he is after... He is a pope, not an ayatollah.

It's the ayatollahs who like war, and it's popes who call for peace.

That's right, and, and this is not the first time that, uh,

President Trump has,

uh, called out, so to speak, uh, a sitting pontiff.

Uh, in 2016 in the height of the presidential

campaign, uh, that ultimately

saw Trump's election, uh, he had a back and forth with Pope Francis

over the

question of immigration, going so far as to refer to Pope Francis

as, quote,

"disgraceful." Uh, so there's nothing particularly new in,

in the

tone of the president's comments.

Uh, we can say that the image that he subsequently, uh, projected

or posted of himself basically in the same position as, as Jesus

Christ, uh, that has provoked such a response that the

president has deleted it. Uh, but he made clear this afternoon to the

White House

press corps, uh, that he is not going to apologize to Pope Leo,

and,

and I would be very surprised if he does given his overall temperament

and the

history, uh, of these types of posts.

And in terms of the image he posted, and as you say, is now taken down,

um, that must have annoyed not only his

Catholic supporters, but also,

uh, his fundamentalist supporters who would

think of that as a terrible

blasphemy. And he's been very dependent on the

religious Right, hasn't he, for

his electoral success?

Very much so. Uh, the Evangelical vote, uh, was crucial to his election

in 2016 and again in 2020 in much the same way that the Catholic vote

in 2016 and, uh, in 2024, I should say.

Uh, both of those votes were absolutely crucial to, uh, his, uh,

return to

the White House. Uh, so he's has to be aware politically of the

risks,

and I think, uh, that image for many people, uh,

was just too far,

too extreme, uh, for them, and that's why the president took it down.

But take note of the fact, again, that so far he has not apologized for

that in, in

much the same way that, uh, he took down what many, at least, of

his critics called a racist, uh, post back in February,

uh, for a certain depiction of, for example, the Obamas.

Uh, so this is, uh, par for the course with the president's

style of

discourse, but again, this is nothing new in terms of his dealings

with the papacy.

In terms of political strategy, does it actually help Donald Trump?

Do these sorts of arguments bolster his position in any way,

or would he be a stronger president if he didn't have these, what to

my mind seem to be unnecessary and distracting rows?

Yeah, I, I think, uh, it goes back to the question of his

temperament.

Uh, he does not like to apologize for these,

uh, types of, of

statements. Uh, we can contrast this in many ways with the

2003 back and forth between Pope St.

John Paul II and the administration of George W.

Bush and the ramp up to the Iraq War, where, uh, Pope John

Paul was very adamant in opposing the planned invasion of Iraq.

But the Bush administration never really responded in any fashion that would,

uh, rise to what we're seeing with, with President Trump.

So I think we're seeing also the emergence of Trump's presence in social

media. Uh, and I think you said something very

important in the introduction to

this, uh, that here we are, the two most influential

Americans. And I think Trump certainly considers

himself the

most influential American, uh, and recognizes

too that Pope Leo has a place on the world stage.

Uh, but I don't think Trump, as is his temperament, likes to share

that stage.