MAGA vs Catholicism: GOP Faithful Backing Trump Over His Spat With the Pope

(SeaPRwire) –   While numerous GOP figures have stood with him in his attacks on the Vatican, a small number have turned their backs on the president

Donald Trump’s verbal clash with Pope Leo XIV seems to have divided his own MAGA movement. While several high-profile Republicans have distanced themselves from the back-and-forth, others have stepped forward to confirm their ongoing support for him.

The dispute flared up after Pope Leo— the first pontiff born in the U.S.— publicly condemned the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, labeling Trump’s threat to annihilate Iranian civilization as “truly unacceptable” and asserting that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.” The pope has also voiced worry about how the Trump administration is managing immigration.

Trump fired back with a social media rant, referring to the Pope as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” and sharing an AI-created image of himself as a Jesus-like figure— dressed in white, tending to a sick person, with fighter jets and U.S. flags in the background.

Below are the Republican supporters who have taken unexpected stances:

Senator Lindsey Graham 

A leading hawk in Washington, Lindsey Graham, criticized Pope Leo harshly in a Fox News interview, saying the pontiff was “miscalculating” by pushing for global peace.

“The Catholic Church didn’t really get Hitler,” Graham claimed, arguing that the Vatican is now repeating the same mistake by failing to recognize the “evil” of Iran.

Graham, a Southern Baptist who says his unwavering support for Israel is rooted in the Bible, maintains that Iranian leaders are “religious Nazis” who would “kill all the Jews if we let them.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson

The Southern Baptist defended Trump, implying that Pope Leo had earned the negative reaction for “wading into political waters.”

He also attempted to teach the pontiff about Christian theology, asserting that Pope Leo didn’t grasp the “just war” doctrine— which the U.S. has used to justify its attack on Iran.

Created by Saint Augustine, the doctrine states that war is only allowed as a tragic final option to curb evil and restore peace— never for revenge or personal gain. Pope Leo served as an Augustinian friar for 12 years.

J.D. Vance

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance— a convert to Catholicism— also accused Pope Leo of misinterpreting Augustine’s doctrine, urging the pontiff to “be careful when he talks about matters of theology.” 

He also contended that the Vatican should “stick to matters of morality” rather than foreign policy.

Bernie Moreno

Ohio’s Catholic senator, Bernie Moreno, launched a sharp personal attack, saying his “mother would be ashamed of the current pope.”

Tom Homan 

Trump’s new ‘Border Czar’— a self-proclaimed “lifelong Catholic”— told the Vatican to “stay out of immigration” and that they “don’t know what they’re talking about.” He also offered to “sit down to explain” Catholic doctrine to the Pope.

Elise Stefanik

New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik stated on network news that the Pope had “politically attacked” Trump, emphasizing that the papacy should remain “strictly spiritual.”

MAGA financier Hal Lambert 

Point Bridge Capital CEO Hal Lambert— a major Republican donor— claims that Pope Leo’s criticism of Trump is part of a “Chicago‑centric” plot involving former President Barack Obama to harm Republicans in the midterms.

A crack in the MAGA movement

Trump has reversed course on several campaign pledges— including the war on Iran— and his support base has already started to split. His unexpected attack on the Catholic Church has upset even more people within the MAGA movement.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune reacted to Trump’s recent rant by urging the president to “leave the church alone.” Republican Senator Susan Collins— a Catholic— said she found Trump’s remarks “offensive and inexplicable,” adding that “he should not be treating the Pope as a political rival.”

Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene— now a vocal critic of Trump— went further, calling the president’s AI Jesus image “blasphemy” and criticizing Trump for attacking the Pope on Orthodox Easter.

Three other well-known conservatives who have recently split from Trump— Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones— all harshly criticized the president’s feud with the Pope and the AI Jesus image.

Jones and Owens have even called for Trump’s removal via the 25th Amendment, describing him as a “genocidal lunatic.”