Grace Diviny, Staff Writer
Donald Trump’s approval rate has already waned since the beginning of his second stint as president, but his recent posts regarding religion may have swayed his supporters in a different direction.
On April 12th, Trump took to his social media Truth Social, where he publicly blasted Pope Leo XIV, calling him “weak” on crime and “terrible” for foreign policy after the Pope seemed to subtly criticize US-Israeli involvement in a speech he made in the Vatican City the day before, in which he said “To them we cry out: stop! It is time for peace! Sit at the table of dialogue and mediation – not at the table where rearmament is planned and deadly actions are decided.” While he did not address Trump directly, his words echoed a clear sentiment about where he stood on Trump’s actions.
Although when the Pope was asked directly about the U.S. President by an American journalist on his way to Algeria, he said “I’m not afraid of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the church is here to do.”
However, Trump’s perceived ‘blasphemy’ did not stop there when hours after criticizing the Pope, he posted a now deleted AI generated photo that depicted him as a figure that closely resembled Jesus curing a man on a bed, to which Trump later backtracked and claimed he thought the photo was of him as a doctor after intense backlash from his religious supporters.
This comes after Trump and his officials claimed that the Iran war is justifiable in the eyes of religion, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth telling American citizens back on April 3rd to pray for a victory in the Middle East “in the name of Jesus Christ,” with Hegseth also critiquing the backlash against Trump on Thursday by comparing him to Jesus in terms of how the religious figure was persecuted and targeted.
Many bishops were outraged in the wake of Trump’s words, where president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Paul S. Croakley responded to his statements with “I am disheartened that the President chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father. Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”
With his recent posts and words, Trump may be putting his approval rating in jeopardy. Around 50% to 60% of Trump’s voters in the 2024 election identified as Catholic, yet many of these supporters alongside conservative figures who have been supportive of the president in the past are now pushing back against him in the past week alone, which could greatly affect the Republican majority by November during the mid-term election.
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