For many Catholic supporters of President Donald Trump, it’s been a rocky April.
Two days after Easter Sunday, the president threatened Iran with annihilation. Days later, Trump dissed Pope Leo XIV as “WEAK on Crime” – on the same day he posted an inflammatory image depicting himself as Jesus on social media.
With the Trump administration trading barbs with the Vatican in what’s become the most contentious relationship between a secular leader and the papacy since medieval times, some suggest the moment could be a flashpoint for Catholic conservatives torn between political and religious allegiances.
“Conservative Catholics who have supported Trump may now feel the need to decide between him and the pope,” said Landon Schnabel, an associate professor of sociology at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
The clash has escalated beyond mere president versus pontiff: Some of Trump’s Catholic allies, notably Vice President JD Vance, have entered the fray, while the nation’s Catholic bishops have rallied around the pope, the entire affair amplified via social media.
