The former president of the United States, Donald Trump, has launched a direct attack against Pope Leo in a message published on his social network, where he openly questions his role as leader of the Catholic Church.
In his text, Trump states that the pontiff is “weak on crime” and “terrible on foreign policy,” also criticizing the Pope for speaking of “fear” of his administration without mentioning, according to him, the fear that Christian organizations experienced during the pandemic.
Trump maintains that during COVID-19 priests and ministers were arrested and restrictions were imposed on religious services, even when measures such as social distancing were met. In his opinion, that context has not been sufficiently recognized by the current Pope.
Criticisms of his international stance and of the security policy
The former president also lashes out against Pope Leo for his stance on international politics. Trump assures that he does not want a pontiff who considers “it acceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon” nor who criticizes United States decisions abroad.
Specifically, he mentions that he does not agree that the Pope considers it negative that the United States attacked Venezuela, a country that Trump accuses of sending large quantities of drugs to US territory and of releasing criminals, including murderers and drug traffickers.
Furthermore, he defends his own management as president, recalling that he won the elections “by a landslide”, that he achieved “record levels of security” and that he boosted “the largest stock market in history”.
Personal attacks and questioning of his election as Pope
Trump goes beyond political criticism and enters personal territory. He states that Pope Leo “was not on any list” to hold the position and that his election was a “surprise”, suggesting that he was chosen for being American and to facilitate the relationship with his own presidency.
Even goes so far as to assure that, if he had not been in the White House, the current Pope “would not be in the Vatican”.
He also criticizes his personal relationships, pointing out that he maintains contact with figures he describes as “Obama sympathizers,” explicitly mentioning writer David Axelrod, whom he describes as “a leftist loser