President Donald Trump has had very public disagreements with progressive Pope Leo XIV—and American Catholics are here for it. A new poll shows that Trump's job approval rating among Catholic voters bounced back amid that spat.
Catholics, it turns out, can walk and chew gum at the same time and are not automatically swayed against the president just because he disagrees with the Vatican. Polling from Fox News from February, March, and April shows that the Catholic approval is both "resilient" and "at times stronger than among voters overall," reports Newsweek.
Michael Knowles, speaking to Jack Posobiec on Human Events Daily, said that the media narrative over the public conversation between the Vatican and Trump was hyped up. “Guys, newsflash, Popes generally in the modern era are not pro-war, regardless of what the war is,” Posobiec said. “Pope John Paul II, one of the last things that he did on the world stage was speak out against the start of the Iraq war, so this isn't something new.”
“Some people are using this to attack the Trump administration as being anti-Catholic, which I think is pretty laughable,” Knowles said, rejecting the idea that Trump is anti-Catholic.
Fox News conducted a poll in late February along with Beacon Research and Shaw & Company, Democrat and Republican firms, respectively, and found that while Trump had a 43 percent approval rating overall, he had a 52 percent approval rating among Catholic voters.
A similar poll in March showed Trump's approval rating continuing to drop, but among Catholics, it only slipped to 48 percent. By the time a third poll was run in April, the president's national approval rating continued to hover around 42 percent but among Catholics, it jumped back up to 51 percent.
"There has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump, and his record proves it," said White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers to Newsweek.
"President Trump ended the weaponization of the federal government against Christians, proudly defended and expanded our religious rights, pardoned pro-life activists, stopped the chemical mutilation of our nation’s children, and protected parents’ rights," Rogers went on. "The president will never waver in his support for Catholic Americans and will continue delivering unprecedented victories."
Leo has spoken out against both the war in Iran and the American approach to mass immigration. Trump said the Pope was "weak on crime" and "terrible for foreign policy. “Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
For his part, Leo said "I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do."
Catholics, it turns out, can walk and chew gum at the same time and are not automatically swayed against the president just because he disagrees with the Vatican. Polling from Fox News from February, March, and April shows that the Catholic approval is both "resilient" and "at times stronger than among voters overall," reports Newsweek.
Michael Knowles, speaking to Jack Posobiec on Human Events Daily, said that the media narrative over the public conversation between the Vatican and Trump was hyped up. “Guys, newsflash, Popes generally in the modern era are not pro-war, regardless of what the war is,” Posobiec said. “Pope John Paul II, one of the last things that he did on the world stage was speak out against the start of the Iraq war, so this isn't something new.”
“Some people are using this to attack the Trump administration as being anti-Catholic, which I think is pretty laughable,” Knowles said, rejecting the idea that Trump is anti-Catholic.
Fox News conducted a poll in late February along with Beacon Research and Shaw & Company, Democrat and Republican firms, respectively, and found that while Trump had a 43 percent approval rating overall, he had a 52 percent approval rating among Catholic voters.
A similar poll in March showed Trump's approval rating continuing to drop, but among Catholics, it only slipped to 48 percent. By the time a third poll was run in April, the president's national approval rating continued to hover around 42 percent but among Catholics, it jumped back up to 51 percent.
"There has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump, and his record proves it," said White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers to Newsweek.
"President Trump ended the weaponization of the federal government against Christians, proudly defended and expanded our religious rights, pardoned pro-life activists, stopped the chemical mutilation of our nation’s children, and protected parents’ rights," Rogers went on. "The president will never waver in his support for Catholic Americans and will continue delivering unprecedented victories."
Leo has spoken out against both the war in Iran and the American approach to mass immigration. Trump said the Pope was "weak on crime" and "terrible for foreign policy. “Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
For his part, Leo said "I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do."
