Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a Republican who has backed Donald Trump for years, broke with the president during a Fox News interview on Saturday, calling Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV a “holy war” and saying it distracts from more pressing issues.
Kennedy, a Methodist who emphasized he is not Catholic, said he loves Trump “like a taco” but disagrees with the president’s attacks on the pope, whom he said should be “entitled to his opinion.” He added that the press “sucks it up like a Hoover Deluxe,” referring to the media’s focus on the feud. The comments reach amid an escalating exchange between Trump and the pope over the U.S.-Israel stance on Iran, particularly regarding threats to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Two weeks ago, Pope Leo XIV responded to Trump’s warning that “a whole civilization will die” in Iran if it did not end its blockade of the strait by calling the remarks “truly unacceptable” and noting that attacks on civilian infrastructure violate international law. The pope urged Americans to contact their members of Congress to demand peace. In a Truth Social post last Sunday, Trump fired back, calling the pope “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” and saying he does not want a pope who thinks it’s acceptable for Iran to possess nuclear weapons — despite the pope’s longstanding opposition to nuclear arms.
Trump also posted an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus Christ last week, which some Christian supporters denounced as blasphemous. JD Vance, the Catholic vice president whose forthcoming book details his conversion to the faith, defended Trump on Fox News, telling the pope to “stick to matters of, you realize, what’s going on in the Catholic church” and urging the president to focus on dictating American public policy. Vance had earlier urged the Vatican to avoid political commentary before the pope’s speech in Cameroon.
During that address in Cameroon on Thursday, Pope Leo criticized leaders who ignore the vast sums spent on war although neglecting healing, education, and reconstruction. He said, “The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild,” and condemned an “endless cycle of destabilisation and death” in a bloodstained region of the country facing insurgency for nearly a decade. While some interpreted the “tyrants” remark as aimed at Trump, the pope later said the narrative was inaccurate and stemmed from the political situation created by Trump’s comments.
Vance said he was “grateful” for the pope’s clarification, adding that while real disagreements exist, the media often exaggerates conflict. Earlier in the week, Vance had urged the Vatican to focus on morality, not geopolitics. Trump, for his part, told reporters the pope can say what he wants, and he can disagree, but reiterated his criticism and confirmed he had removed the AI-generated Jesus image after backlash.
The dispute echoes past tensions between the Vatican and the White House. Pope John Paul II opposed George W. Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, just as Pope Leo has questioned the morality of military action in Iran. As John Carr of Georgetown University noted, the church has considered the ethics of violence since the invention of gunpowder, and speaking on war and peace remains within its vocation. Bishop Mariann Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C., told NBC News that when political leaders respond to moral witness with insults, they treat accountability like partisan combat — a reflection more on politics than on the pope.
At a Trump rally in Phoenix, attendees like Penny Visser of Sun City, Arizona, argued the pope should “stay in his lane,” citing biblical wars they viewed as justified. Visser, 65, said she came with her college-aged daughter to hear Trump defend the Iran war as necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. She questioned what gives the pope the right to oppose it, reflecting a broader sentiment among some Trump supporters that religious leaders should avoid foreign policy.
Why did Senator John Kennedy criticize Trump’s attacks on the pope?
Kennedy said he disagrees with Trump’s “holy war” against Pope Leo because it distracts from more important issues and that the pope should be entitled to his opinion, despite Kennedy’s own support for the president on other matters.
How has Pope Leo XIV responded to Trump’s criticism?
The pope called Trump’s remarks about Iran “truly unacceptable,” cited violations of international law, urged Americans to contact Congress for peace, and denied that his “tyrants” speech in Cameroon was aimed at Trump, saying the narrative was inaccurate and shaped by Trump’s comments.
What historical precedent exists for papal criticism of U.S. Military action?
Pope John Paul II opposed President George W. Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, showing that papal engagement on war and peace is not new but part of a long tradition of moral reflection on violence.