Members of the US MAGA movement have clashed with the new Pope over a social media post that appeared to criticize President Donald Trump and his deputy JD Vance.
Robert Prevast, 69, from Chicago, became the first American pope to be Thursday when he was selected as a fellow Cardinal, less than three weeks after the death of his predecessor, Pope Francis.
Trump quickly congratulated Prevost’s appointment, sending him his celebration, and expressed his desire to meet the Pope, now known as Leo XIV.
“What excitement and what a wonderful honor for our country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!” Trump said in a post about his true social platform.
But not everyone on Trump’s orbit is happy with the news from the Vatican.
Laura Rumer, a far-right activist invited by Trump to an oval office from Trump in early April, called the new Pope “an anti-Trump, anti-Maga, Pro-Open Border, a perfect Marxist like Pope Francis.”
Her criticism came in response to an article allegedly reposted by X’s Prevost.
The account, verified in his name, shared a 2015 Washington Post opinion piece written by Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
The article is entitled “Why is Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric so problematic?”
In February, the same account reposted an article written by the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) who criticized US Vice President JD Vance for his comments on the Christian concept of “Oldor Morris.”
“There’s this old school – and I think it’s a very Christian concept – you love your family, and you love your neighbors, and you love your community, and you love your fellow citizens of your own country, and then you can prioritize and focus on the other worlds earlier this year.
His interpretation of doctrine was widely condemned by leading religious figures, with an NCR article concluded that Prevost article “JD Vance is wrong. Jesus does not ask us to rank our love for others.”
However, unlike Rumer, some Trump allies have tried to reserve their judgment.
“Do you hope that a 20-year-old boy runs a new Pope X account and he has never seen it?” asked former Fox News host Megin Kelly.
