Pope Has Shared Posts Criticizing Trump, Vance

President Trump praised the election of the first American pope on Thursday—but Pope Leo XIV might not have been thrilled when Trump was elected in November. When Leo was Cardinal Robert Prevost, he shared numerous posts on X criticizing the policies and statements of Trump and Vice President JD Vance, though he mainly reposted articles and headlines instead of using his own words, CNN reports.

• "JD Vance is wrong." The most recent post on the account, from April 14, shared an article by DC Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar condemning "the abuse inflicted upon migrants and refugees by the government." In February, Prevost shared an article titled, "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others."

• His posting history. The account was created in 2011 and the Trump criticisms go back to before he was first elected president, the New York Times reports. In July 2015, he reposted an article by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, titled, "Why Donald Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic." After Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election to Trump, Prevost shared an article that said she had "ignored pro-lifers at her own peril." In the following years, he reposted numerous articles criticizing Trump's immigration policies.
• His voting record. Records show that Prevost voted in Republican primaries in 2012, 2014 and 2016. He voted in the general election last year, but skipped the ones in 2016 and 2020. "The fact that he hasn't voted in a Republican primary since 2016 and, in fact, didn't vote in the general in '16—and his public statements—if I had to guess, he certainly would fit the profile of a former or Never Trump-type ex-Republican," Matt Knee at conservative data science firm Pulse Decision Science tells the Daily Beast.

• Trump allies speak out. Trump and Vance—the second Catholic vice president in US history, with Joe Biden the first—congratulated the new pope on Thursday and did not address his criticisms. MAGA allies including Laura Loomer, however, called Leo "woke" and "Marxist." In a post on X, Loomer said, "He is anti-Trump, anti-MAGA, pro-open Borders, and a total Marxist like Pope Francis." Before the pope was elected, Steve Bannon, a conservative Catholic, told the Times that Prevost was "one of the dark horses" to succeed Francis, but "unfortunately, he's one of the most progressive."
• He's "kind of right down the middle." John Prevost, the pope's brother, told WGN Thursday that he expects him to be a "second Pope Francis." "He's not going to be real far left and he's not going to be real far right," he said. "Kind of right down the middle." (The new pope's brothers have been speaking up.)