It didn’t take long for right-wing media figures and MAGA provocateurs to cry out in rage over the election of Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV after it was revealed that he’d publicly criticized Vice President JD Vance and expressed sympathy for immigrants and George Floyd.
Despite feeling national pride over the fact that the Chicago-born Prevost has become the first American pope in history, conservative pundits and Trump loyalists fumed over the “WOKE MARXIST POPE” and complained that he is “worse than Francis,” referencing the previous pontiff known for his progressive values.
Even before the “dark horse” American cardinal was elected the 267th pope, former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon warned about Prevost’s views, claiming that he would be a poor choice for the MAGA movement.
“I do think one of the dark horses — and unfortunately one of the most progressive — is Cardinal Prevost... he's certainly on the shortlist,” Bannon told Piers Morgan last week about the prospect of the first American pope.
After the white smoke poured out from the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, indicating that the conclave had selected a new pontiff to replace the deceased Pope Francis, Newsmax anchor Rob Schmitt grumbled that this “Pope better not be woke.” Within an hour of Schmitt’s warning shot, however, much of MAGA world was aghast over the choice of Leo XIV.
Following the announcement of Prevost as the new Holy Father, many of his tweets criticizing Vance and the Trump administration’s immigration policies, as well as expressing grief for the killing of George Floyd, began making the rounds on social media.
“JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” Prevost tweeted earlier this year, referencing comments the vice president made about Christians needing to “prioritize” their love. Naturally, some of the most prominent conservative voices quickly pounced on the new pope’s social media posts.
“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,” alt-right conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich griped on X (formerly Twitter) while including screenshots of the pontiff retweeting posts about gun control and deportations to El Salvador.
Pro-Trump social media personality Joey Mannarino groused that “the new Pope has recently attacked JD Vance, shown solidarity with Kilmar Abrego-Garcia and begged Trump to open the borders like Biden had them,” adding that “this guy is worse than Francis.” In a separate tweet, he went even further, calling him a “liberal piece of s***” and insisting that “we’re f***ed.” Mannarino’s spouse Ada Lluch, who credits Trump for the couple getting married (they’ve since separated), complained that the “new pope suffers from the woke mind virus.”
“In case you're wondering why they picked an American to be a Pope for the first time in history,” MAGA influencer Vince Langman, sharing a 2015 tweet of Prevost criticizing Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric, whined. “He's a WOKE Never Trumper liberal. That's why!”
Laura Loomer, the “proud Islamphobe” and far-right extremist who appears to have the president’s ear lately, spent much of Thursday afternoon raging on social media about the newly elected pontiff’s views on immigration and social justice.
“The new Pope once retweeted a post about how we need to keep praying for career criminal & drug addict George Floyd,” she raged. “The tweet said, ‘May all hatred, violence and prejudice be eradicated.’ What prejudice? Is that another way to spell FENTANYL OVERDOSE? MARXIST POPE!”
In additional tweets, Loomer lamented about the “WOKE MARXIST POPE” and claimed he “is anti-Trump, anti-MAGA, pro-open Borders, and a total Marxist like Pope Francis,” adding that it’s “GROSS” that he is now in charge of the Vatican.
While other right-wing activists and media personalities cried on social media that “they chose a globalist and woke Pope from the West ON PURPOSE” to criticize the president, the anti-pope narrative began leaking onto MAGA broadcasts.
“Mr. Prevost, the new pope, was retweeting George Floyd propaganda,” Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk muttered during his podcast. “But that is what it is. Whatever.”
Pizzagate conspiracist Jack Posobiec, meanwhile, was visibly irate over the tweets about Vance and immigrants before attempting to exert on-air pressure on Pope Leo XIV to openly support Trump.
“We need to see from the jump, from the absolute jump, whether or not Pope Leo is interested in working with President Trump or — as we can see from his Twitter feed — working against him,” he said during the broadcast of his Real America’s Voice show.
“As a representative of Catholics all around the world, perhaps he'll understand that it was Catholics who delivered the White House for President Trump,” he concluded. “And perhaps, just perhaps, the new pope will listen.”
Trump, who was almost certainly unaware of the new pope’s criticisms of him and his immigration policies in the past, sent Leo XIV his well wishes after he was made the head of the Catholic Church.
“Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”
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