Newly elected Pope Leo XIV has repeatedly criticised Donald Trump and his policies
Senior figures in Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again movement are, it’s fair to say, less than happy with the new US-born Pope.
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The newly elected Pope, American Robert Prevost, has repeatedly opposed Donald Trump’s politics, particularly his stance towards migrants.
And this has not gone unnoticed, among the Make America Great Again crowd, in the hours since Cardinal Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV, was named as Pope Francis’s successor.
Mr Trump and his Vice President, J.D. Vance, have both issued statements congratulating him on his ascension to the top of the Catholic Church.
“It is such an honour to realise that he is the first American pope,” Mr Trump said.
“What excitement, and what a great honour for our country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”
“Congratulations to Leo XIV, the first American Pope, on his election. I’m sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the church. May God bless him,” Mr Vance said.
But the two politicians, who criticised Pope Francis while he was still alive for holding progressive political views, may also be destined to clash with Pope Leo.
An examination of the new pontiff’s history on social media reveals that he has spoken out publicly against Mr Trump and Mr Vance more than once, sometimes in his own voice, but also by sharing other people’s criticism of their policies.
Because he’s American, we can see his voting history. He voted in Republican Party primaries, in his home state Illinois, in 2012, 2014 and 2016, which suggests he leans towards the conservative side of politics.
But he has taken particular issue with the American right’s tough line on migration.
“I stand with the Dreamers and all people who are working towards an immigration system that is fair, just and moral,” read one post retweeted by him in 2017.
The term “Dreamer”, in the United States, is used to refer to undocumented migrants who were brought into the country as children.
At another point in 2017, Cardinal Prevost approvingly shared an article calling the Trump administration’s ban on some refugees “a dark hour of US history”.
“The world is watching as we abandon our commitment to American values,” the post read.
“We’re banning all Syrian refugees? The men, women and children who most need help? What an immoral nation we are becoming. Jesus weeps,” read another post shared by the newly elected pontiff that year.
He also shared a post from Democratic Senator Chris Murphy after a horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas, saying “cowardice to act cannot be whitewashed by thoughts and prayers”.
“There is nothing remotely Christian, American, or morally defensible about a policy that takes children away from their parents and warehouses them in cages. This is being carried out in our name and the shame is on us all,” reads another post he retweeted in 2018.
It was a reference to the Trump administration’s policy of separating migrant children from their parents.
In 2020, he retweeted a call to pray for the family of George Floyd, a black man who was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin, sparking Black Lives Matter protests across the United States.
“We need to hear more from leaders in the church, to reject racism and seek justice,” he wrote at the time.
As recently as this April, he shared a post from a Catholic blogger condemning the Trump administration’s deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a migrant from El Salvador whom the government was barred from deporting by a court order.
Mr Garcia initially came to the US illegally, but was granted protected status in 2019. His partner is a US citizen, and they share a young child together.
“Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?” said Bishop Evelio Menjivar, in a quote shared by then-Cardinal Prevost.
And in February, he retweeted an article titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others” by the National Catholic Reporter, disagreeing with Mr Vance’s assertion that Americans should come first.
“The internet has been buzzing since Vice President J.D. Vance said during a Fox News interview on January 29: ‘There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbour, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritise the rest of the world,’ wrote author Kat Armas.
“There’s no doubt that Scripture speaks to our responsibility for family and community. But when it comes to something being ‘biblical’ we have to be careful.
“Nearly anything can be found in Scripture if you’re looking for it. Stories of war, oppression, miracles and love, all written by people grappling with what it meant to be faithful. The Bible is not a rigid manual but a living testimony of human wrestlings with the divine.”
She wrote that Mr Vance’s argument echoed “a medieval concept known as ordo amoris, the order of charity”, which posits that an individual should prioritise their love in favour of those closest to them.
“The problem with this hierarchy is that it feeds the myth that some people are more deserving of our care than others,” said Ms Armas.
“It’s a framework that makes sense in a world governed by scarcity and fear, where protection comes at the expense of others. But Jesus never speaks of love as something to be rationed.
“No, I won’t deny the complexities of immigration. But framing love as something calculated and conditional misses the heart of it entirely.”
‘Trashed Trump’: MAGA figures express alarm
Leading voices in the Trump media ecosystem are alarmed at the new Pope’s views.
Laura Loomer, a notorious conspiracy theorist who has nevertheless managed to become a confidant and adviser to President Trump, came out of the gates hard.
“The new Pope once retweeted a post about how we need to keep praying for career criminal and drug addict George Floyd,” Ms Loomer said.
(Mr Floyd did have a criminal record, mostly involving theft and drug charges. While some elements of the conservative media have suggested drug use led to his death, a jury found he was murdered by a police officer, who knelt on his neck for nine minutes while Mr Floyd, trapped on the ground, protested that he could not breathe.)
“The tweet said, ‘May all hatred, violence and prejudice be eradicated,’” said Ms Loomer.
“What prejudice? Is that another way to spell FENTANYL OVERDOSE? MARXIST POPE!”
Radio host Megyn Kelly asked: “Is it too much to hope that some 20-year-old ran the new pope’s X account and he never looked at it?”
A conservative influencer, Joey Mannarino, argued that the new Pope had “attacked J.D. Vance, shown solidarity with Kilmar Abrego Garcia and begged Trump to open the borders like Biden had them”.
“This guy is worse than Francis,” said Mr Mannarino.
Sean Davis, co-founder of The Federalist, said Pope Leo had “trashed Trump, trashed Vance, trashed border enforcement, endorsed Dreamer-style illegal immigration and repeatedly praised and honoured George Floyd”.
To which one of the Twitter accounts frequently boosted by Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, Catturd, replied: “This is so bad.”
“The new Pope seems to be anti-Trump and pro-open borders,” said Mr Davis.
“I was considering becoming Catholic. Not anymore,” said Matt Wallace, a right-wing social media personality.
“The new Pope is an anchor baby from Peru who supports mass migration to the West. WE ARE SCREWED.”
“Anchor baby” is a derogatory term used in some, shall we say, less savoury parts of the American political discourse. The idea is that people arrive in America illegally and then have children, who are automatically US citizens, to “anchor” them to the country.
For what it’s worth, the new Pope was born in America’s third-largest city, Chicago, and is a dual US-Peruvian citizen. The Peruvian citizenship resulted from his time ministering in the country. His father was of French and Italian descent, and served in the US Navy during World War II. His mother was from the American state Louisiana.
So no, Pope Leo is not an “anchor baby”, even if you think that’s an acceptable term.
Will Chamberlain, a lawyer with the conservative Article 3 Project, was also less than satisfied by the choice.
“Were there really no papal candidates available who hadn’t publicly attacked both the President and Vice President of the United States?” he asked.
“I know I have plenty of Catholic followers, I hope that Leo XIV is a great Pope and a wonderful steward for the Catholic Church.
“But... seriously? An American who publicly criticized Vance and Trump on immigration in his few public statements? Really?”
And right-wing personality Mark Cernovich was equally scathing.
“Sorry, Catholics. This new Pope is an open borders globalist. He will be pushing for abortion soon. This isn’t a guess. You can scroll his X account and see what he’s been up to,” he said.
Originally published as Newly elected Pope Leo XIV has repeatedly criticised Donald Trump and his policies
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