4 hours ago
3
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
While President Trump welcomed the U.S.-born cardinal as the new pope, top Trump allies criticized Leo XIV for his similarities to Pope Francis.
May 9, 2025
When Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was selected as pope on Thursday, President Trump quickly offered the first U.S.-born pontiff a hearty congratulations.
“It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. “What excitement.”
But some of Mr. Trump’s most fervent followers do not appear to be feeling the excitement.
Almost immediately after Cardinal Prevost, a native of the Chicago area who spent decades ministering in Peru, emerged from the conclave as the new pope and took the name Leo XIV, leaders of the MAGA movement began to cast him as an enemy.
Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who holds significant sway with Mr. Trump, wrote Thursday on social media that Leo’s style would be similar to that of his predecessor, Pope Francis, whom she described as “anti-Trump, anti-MAGA, pro-open Borders, and a total Marxist.”
“Catholics don’t have anything good to look forward to,” she wrote. “Just another Marxist puppet in the Vatican.”
And on Friday, guests on Steve Bannon’s popular right-wing “War Room” podcast piled on, casting Leo as a progressive figure and a continuation of Francis, an outspoken voice for migrants who was often at odds with Mr. Trump.
