Experts in Catholicism and religious studies are still grappling with President Donald Trump’s recent attacks against Pope Leo XIV, including one particularly “undignified” accusation that Trump has leveled against the pope: That Leo “likes crime.”
Trump was widely condemned after he attacked Leo in a lengthy Truth Social post on Sunday night, calling the pope “WEAK on Crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy.” The president also claimed that the pope feared the Trump administration, and that the first U.S.-born pope in history was only selected because “they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”
“Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician,” Trump added.
Trump’s rant about the pope was published on Truth Social after the broadcast of a “60 Minutes” segment that featured three American cardinals discussing the pope’s notably more direct tone in his recent statements speaking out against the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.
Trump continued his attacks on Leo, subsequently telling reporters on Sunday night that he believes the pope “likes crime.”
