Trump Attacks Pope Leo in Late-Night Rant; Calls Him "Weak," Takes Credit for Papacy

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey, folks, it is Monday, April eighteenth, and no, even the pope is not off limits.

00:00:09
Speaker 2: And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ.

00:00:12
Speaker 1: Shock, amazement, anger, fury, all kinds of things.

00:00:19
Speaker 2: Robes, I got the date.

00:00:21
Speaker 3: It's April thirteenth. You said it was April eighteenth.

00:00:24
Speaker 1: Oh okay, well here we go, folks, on this April thirteenth. You could just say that at your point, I'm trying to figure out what the hell you're talking about. It's April thirteenth, all right, folks, is Monday, April eighteenth, thirteenth, And that's not the point of us being on here. We're hopping on on this Monday, April thirteenth because the president of the United States just attacked the pope in such a way that folks have not remembered seeing in their lifetimes and in history. And Robes, we act like this is shock and amazement and all these things. But should we be shocked, in amazed and surprised the president? Nobody's off limits for this president.

00:00:53
Speaker 4: Well, we constantly say we're continually surprised, or at least I do, and Gues I feel like this is maybe an way to put it another new low, and it should be shocking. If it isn't shocking, that's a whole other issue. So I still remain shocked in this moment that our president is now going after the world's first American president because he doesn't agree with him.

00:01:17
Speaker 1: I guess we're going to be off on this Monday. You said he went after the world's first American president.

00:01:23
Speaker 2: I know you meant pope.

00:01:24
Speaker 1: All right, folks, it is Monday, April the thirteenth, and the American president has attacked the American Pope. Thanks, this is where we are.

00:01:33
Speaker 2: On his money.

00:01:34
Speaker 1: I guess we are not taking this news well because we're trying to get it together here. But folks, this is and ropes. You said a new low. It's almost and I'm sorry. Maybe I'm one of those folks who needs to do better about making sure that these things still come into surprise and a shock because it ain't normal, but it's so normal for him that I almost was like, eh, that makes sense.

00:01:52
Speaker 4: Yeah, I hear you, And I think that's a danger for us too. At lower our bar for what is acceptable, what is shocking, what is outrageous, and what needs to be called out or at least scrutinized. And this is just, unfortunately another list on a very long list that is growing where it is unacceptable to hear that type of tone from the leader of our country.

00:02:19
Speaker 1: Well, we're gonna let you hear two things here, folks. We're gonna let you hear this extended social media, this Trump social post truth social post by Trump and which he just goes after the pope. There is another thing we're gonna let you hear, which is the President answering a question as he was born in Air Force one yesterday. This was after he put out the truth social post, in which he had more comments and did not shy away from his criticism of the pope. Do we need to preface this rope? I think a lot of people are aware that this pope has been I shouldn't say outspoken. He's been doing his job, has he not? By leading with whatever? He's a moral leader for the world, not just the one point four billion Catholics. That is his role, and in that role robes He has spoken out against wars that he's seeing, but he puts it in a religious context of what Jesus would want God, the Prince of peace. All these he's put it in that context. So in that role as pope, he is speaking and criticizing war Trump is taking that as a direct criticism of Trump.

00:03:20
Speaker 3: And look, he.

00:03:22
Speaker 4: Is directly criticizing specifically the Iranian war that was waged by President Trump. But you're right, Pope Leo has not directly or individually named President Trump when he makes these remarks, but clearly he is directing them towards what this country is doing in the world.

00:03:40
Speaker 3: And he started his rhetoric on Palm Sunday.

00:03:43
Speaker 4: We did a whole episode on it where he talked about how those who start wars have their hands full of blood and he called the Iranian war atrocious. That he stepped it up on Easter this week. He actually remarked and reacted to Trump's threat to wipe out an entire civil liation.

00:04:03
Speaker 3: Yes, he called it unacceptable.

00:04:04
Speaker 4: He said attacks on civilian infrastructure are against international law. And then Friday, on x he went on he tweeted, God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. But I think it was Saturday, where he really stepped up his rhetoric during an during a visual prayer session, where yes, he talked enough of the idoltry of self and money, enough of the display of power, enough of war.

00:04:36
Speaker 1: Okay, the President takes issue with that, and that's fine. Now, a lot of people might look at the Pope and say he's being political. A lot of folks will look at the and say they shouldn't step into these things. Generally speaking, we all understand this robes. The Pope is not a politician, and the Pope speaks out against what he sees in the world, whether that's famine, whether that's immigration, whether that's he sees He is speaking from a moral standpoint about what he sees in the world. He is not a policy guy. However, by default it can sound like he's directly challenging people's policy.

00:05:08
Speaker 2: That is where Trump has a problem. Again.

00:05:10
Speaker 1: He has kept Trump's name out of his mouth for the most part. He was asked once remember that little gaggle or I can see the interview. He was an interview, but reporters were around the pope and he actually used Trump's name just in saying, I hope Trump finds an off ramp.

00:05:23
Speaker 2: He has not been.

00:05:25
Speaker 1: You would never, ever, Robes, no matter who you are, say that the Pope is taking on in some political way. President Trump whatever, the President does not see it that way. So the big post that got everybody talking and everybody will be talking about this morning, and it is long one, but we're going to have to read it to you word for word here.

00:05:43
Speaker 3: All right. This is Trump on truth social late last night.

00:05:48
Speaker 4: Pope Leo is weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy.

00:05:53
Speaker 3: He talks about.

00:05:54
Speaker 4: Fear of the Trump administration, but doesn't mention the fear that the Catholic Church and all other Christian organizations had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers and everybody else for holding church services, even when going outside and being ten and even twenty feet apart. I like his brother Lewis much better than I like him, because Louis is all maga.

00:06:16
Speaker 3: He gets it, and Leo doesn't.

00:06:18
Speaker 4: I don't want a pope who thinks it's okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. I don't want a pope who thinks it's terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a country that was sending massive amounts of drugs into the United States and even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers into our country. And I don't want a pope who criticizes the president of the United States, because I'm doing exactly what I was elected in a landslide to do, setting record low numbers in crime and creating the greatest stock market in history. Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise. He wasn't on any list to be pope, and he was old only put there by the Church because he was an American and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J.

00:07:08
Speaker 2: Trump.

00:07:09
Speaker 4: If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican. Unfortunately, Leo's week on crime, week on nuclear weapons does not sit well with me, nor does the fact that he meets with Obama sympathizers like David Axelrod, a loser from the left who is one of those who wanted churchgoers and clerics to be arrested. 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. It's hurting him very badly. More importantly, it's hurting the Catholic Church.

00:07:48
Speaker 1: Don't know where to start. Taking it in as a whole, it's a little confusing. Taking it in as a whole, it's a little It's typical. This is typical that Robes. He go after somebody who criticized him, doesn't matter who that person is, and makes his case, throws in the word loser and talking about how did David Axelrod and Pope Leo get into the same one. I don't know, but Robes, this is a man who has now taken credit credit for the papacy.

00:08:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was that incredible.

00:08:24
Speaker 1: He's taken credit like there is nothing in the world that he believes is not under his control or influence. Up there are there are more messages coming out about unhinged and this is someone who is not well and delusional. But Robes others of us, And I'm sorry that I'm starting to fall into the category of just guess that's just trumps.

00:08:47
Speaker 3: When you talk about delusion.

00:08:49
Speaker 4: Can we talk about the picture that he posted on his truth social feed just after posting this about the Pope.

00:08:58
Speaker 1: Isn't this this isn't the first time. But yeah, go ahead. But again my response is the same. Eh, that's Trump.

00:09:04
Speaker 4: So after eviscerating Pope Leo, he then posts a picture. It's like an AI rendered picture where it looks like he is Jesus Christ, or at least a saint like figure. He's wearing a biblical style robe. He's laying his hands on a bed ridden man and light is coming from his fingers as it's atop the man. He's surrounded by some other people looking on, but there are American landmarks in the background.

00:09:31
Speaker 3: There are eagles in the sky. There's an American flag. Anyway, he's betraying himself as basically.

00:09:36
Speaker 4: A Jesus like, saint like figure healing the wounded with American ideology around him.

00:09:45
Speaker 1: He's Jesus healing the sick, is what the picture is supposed to be. It's a pretty incredible AI rendering. To be honest, it's amazing what AI can do. Ah, that's not the point. The point you're making.

00:09:56
Speaker 2: Is who does this exactly? Okay, I guess he does that.

00:10:01
Speaker 1: That's my I'm I am, I'm well, I'm us trying to understand or think or comprehend or be surprised. Man, I feel delusional in waking up and being shocked by something.

00:10:14
Speaker 2: I see why am I you know? I'm sorry.

00:10:17
Speaker 1: Maybe it's just Monday and I don't have the energy for it. But it's just another come on man, and I guess that's how we roll and we'll move on to the next thing. However, Robes, there is a short collection of messages he's been putting out now that have that have gone a little above and beyond what we were even used to him doing. What does this mean? Does this mean the the Iran war is just stressing him out a little more? Or is he take Are we watching him go a direction? Robes that is going to get worse? Robes, Easter Sunday, a civilization will die. That message went out here we are the following Sunday he attacks the Pope like I'm not even comfortable saying, candy man, and in the damn mirror five times, I know better than to curse the pope. He's cursing the pope that wolf.

00:11:09
Speaker 3: God is really I'm actually speechless.

00:11:11
Speaker 2: God is going to choose me over the Pope.

00:11:15
Speaker 1: I can take on the pope and I'm still the one coming out on top, and maybe it's just what we could dismiss it as just him being he's just poking us, it's just fun and games.

00:11:27
Speaker 2: It's just him putting out a picture. You know, he's gonna work people up.

00:11:30
Speaker 1: It's a distraction, or he's actually genuinely pissed, or this is fair game? How about that, ropes? Is the Pope fair game? Should he be fair game? If he wants to open his mouth and say he's got a problem with the warrant ron and should he be fair game?

00:11:42
Speaker 4: You can disagree with the Pope, you don't have to call him weak and all sorts of other names. I mean, there's a way to handle disagreement or to basically have a conversation about that disagreement and lead the people who have elected you in a an adult conversation.

00:12:03
Speaker 3: That is the issue.

00:12:04
Speaker 4: It's it's it's not even that he has a right or doesn't have a right to be upset. It's how he handles his feelings that we have an issue with.

00:12:14
Speaker 1: All right, well, stay here, we told you that was what the President said on True Social He had more to say yesterday, and he said it on camera. He said it two reporters and Yeah, he made clear he's got a problem with the American Pope's there?

00:12:37
Speaker 2: All right?

00:12:38
Speaker 1: We continue here on Amy and TJ on this Monday, April the thirteenth, talking about the American president and the American.

00:12:44
Speaker 3: Pope, right the second time?

00:12:47
Speaker 2: Or we have you seen anywhere? Again? This is fairly to upstart.

00:12:51
Speaker 1: What time I'm sorry, bros, ask you what time do you put that message out? I want about the Pope social Pope nice Jesus. So one of the saying is this started boiling up. We saw it overnight, but then we kind of started doing a deep dive into it this morning. My question was ultimately to you, have you seen anyone defending this yet that he attacked the Pope?

00:13:13
Speaker 2: Did you see anything?

00:13:14
Speaker 4: Oh?

00:13:14
Speaker 5: No?

00:13:15
Speaker 4: And he put this up eight hours ago from where we recorded this, So I'm terrible at doing.

00:13:19
Speaker 1: The metal's So my question, have you seen anywhere that anybody's in supportive? No?

00:13:24
Speaker 4: In fact, the Vatican has not responded. But we've even heard from the president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops and an Undersecretary of the Vatican for Culture and Education, and they have not been in support of the president.

00:13:37
Speaker 2: No.

00:13:37
Speaker 3: Quite the contrary. The Archbishop Paul S.

00:13:41
Speaker 4: Cochley said, I am disheartened that the President chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father. Pope Leo is not his rival, nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls. And the undersecretary said, Trump's attack is a declaration of impotence. When political power lashes out against a moral voice, it's because it cannot contain it.

00:14:05
Speaker 2: Say that last one again about the impotence part.

00:14:08
Speaker 4: Trump's attack is a declaration of impotence. Damn right, that was tough. And then look we heard and I don't know how much this played into Trump's ire, but sixty minutes last night with Nora O'Donnell had three cardinals on.

00:14:21
Speaker 3: She had a quick exchange with Pope as well.

00:14:25
Speaker 4: But look, these cardinals called the Iranian war unjust. They said the rhetic and rhetoric and gamification by this administration is dehumanizing and sickening. So all of that could have also contributed to Trump's mood.

00:14:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, we should have mentioned that as well. What time was that sixty minutes come on?

00:14:44
Speaker 3: It's I think it's seven pm.

00:14:47
Speaker 2: Right, Okay.

00:14:48
Speaker 1: The first message criticizing the pope was nine oh three pm Eastern time.

00:14:52
Speaker 3: I think he watched sixty minutes.

00:14:53
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And who knows that there will be any fallout with that, the whole CBS thing, or with that sixty minutes again, who knows. He clearly was upset about it. Yeah, we should have mentioned that off the top. It came almost right after sixty minutes.

00:15:06
Speaker 2: Now. The President was asked about it.

00:15:08
Speaker 1: He was getting onto Air Force one last night, and of course he was asked about his comments about the pope.

00:15:15
Speaker 2: He didn't back off at all. Take a listen.

00:15:18
Speaker 5: I don't think he's doing a very good job. He likes crime. I guess he hit us think of it. He's worried about fear. What about the fear when the ministers and the priests and all of those great people that were arrested during COVID and in many cases they're outside ten feet apart and they were arrested.

00:15:41
Speaker 2: So we don't like it.

00:15:43
Speaker 5: We don't like a pope that's gonna say that it's okay to have a nuclear weapon.

00:15:48
Speaker 2: We don't want a.

00:15:49
Speaker 5: Pope that says crime is okay In our cities. I don't like it. I'm not a big fan of pop playof He's a very liberal person, and he's a man that doesn't believe in stopping. He's a man that doesn't think that we should be going with a country that wants a nuclear weapons so they can blow up the world. I'm not a fan of Bubblio.

00:16:13
Speaker 1: There you have it. He's talking about him like he's a politician. I don't want a guy who's who wants to be weak on crime. I don't want a guy who is who's okay with iron having a nuclear weapon. He's talking about him as a political rival.

00:16:24
Speaker 4: Almost, yes, And that was the reaction by another cardinal. They're just saying, can we please remember the pope's role? And I love the way you put it. Yes, he is a moral voice. He is a moral authority for the one point four billion Catholics around the world and the fifty plus million Catholics here in the United States. And you think about the president taking on this moral leader who is always, at least in terms of his duty, trying to spread the Word of Christ, not the agenda of any one country or the agenda of any one man other than Christ.

00:17:00
Speaker 3: Himself, you are most.

00:17:02
Speaker 4: Likely going to piss off all of those devout Catholics in your own country and around the world. He's never shied away from that. But in terms of the voting America, I don't know how well thought out his decision to speak out so critically of the Pope was.

00:17:22
Speaker 1: You said, Catholics will be critical, but won't just Christians, won't just decent folks even if you're not religious, Robes, don't we all just look to the Pope and least we have some degree of respect for the papacy, right And no Catholic Church has its issues over history obviously and even recent very recent history, right from wars to litigation.

00:17:46
Speaker 2: Right, this is the Catholic Church has a long history.

00:17:50
Speaker 3: There's a little in question there too, But.

00:17:52
Speaker 1: We look to the Pope as someone that rises above all of the foolishness. And I think he is, Robes, not the most identifiable, recognizable moral and religious leader in the world. Yes, even though he's not leading everybody in their own religions, we see him as something or to have a takedown of the Pope like this, I don't know how anybody, no matter how strong of a Trump supporter, you are can look at that and go somes up.

00:18:25
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's my guy.

00:18:26
Speaker 2: That's cool.

00:18:27
Speaker 3: That's who I want my children to look up to and to.

00:18:31
Speaker 1: But we don't have to go even that world. It is just a matter of it's just something. Is there anything we don't do? Is there anything that is sacred anything? I thought the Kennedy Center stunned and hurt me to think that, that great American institute. But this is now an American pope.

00:18:50
Speaker 2: I ain't Catholic. This is Leo. This I got Leo.

00:18:54
Speaker 3: I don't understand.

00:18:56
Speaker 4: This is why there are and there is a growing call amongst so many folks. And look, I know most of them are on the left side of the aisle. I get that, the Democrats, but there are some folks who have recently left the magosphere who also believe that there is something wrong with President Trump. This goes beyond politics, This goes beyond ego, This goes beyond ire. This is concerning on a lot of levels that actually might require some examination.

00:19:26
Speaker 1: Yes, this isn't politically scary.

00:19:30
Speaker 2: This whole civilization will die. I mean, it's almost what's next.

00:19:35
Speaker 3: And he said, I remember this was just yesterday.

00:19:37
Speaker 4: Correct that The President was defending that by saying, well, I have to hear death to America.

00:19:42
Speaker 3: What's so different about what I said?

00:19:43
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, his word was I'm fine with it. When he was asked about that tweet your.

00:19:50
Speaker 2: Barromo.

00:19:51
Speaker 1: Yes, in that interview he said I'm fine with it when he said, asked about those words, and then he moved on.

00:19:58
Speaker 2: Like you said, start talking about something. Yep.

00:20:00
Speaker 1: So, folks, you just wanted to hop on give you this update. Don't expect necessarily a whole lot of back and forth, if you will, when it comes to the Pope and the Vatican excuse me, the White House and the Vatican. So we expect a whole lot more reaction. I think a lot of people missed this last night. Oh yes, they're gonna wake up to it this.

00:20:18
Speaker 3: Morning, you know.

00:20:19
Speaker 4: And look the whole role of Jesus Christ and following his teachings, it's about turning the other cheek.

00:20:26
Speaker 3: So I doubt we'll hear something back.

00:20:28
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, they're not gonna clap back.

00:20:29
Speaker 3: It's brother, absolutely not. That's not the way of the word.

00:20:35
Speaker 1: Isn't that also a shame? We should have the best relationship ever between the Vatican and the United States. The two most powerful men in the world are maybe those two. Yeah, we should have this. We should have the best relationship ever. We got an American pope.

00:20:49
Speaker 3: And we're blowing it because we're blowing things up.

00:20:52
Speaker 2: Ah my god.

00:20:55
Speaker 1: All right, folks, and that's how you're gonna get this Monday, April thirteenth started. We have plenty coming your way on our feed today, including the morning run. I'll give you the news headlines and there are plenty once again, but always top right corner of your Apple podcast ap where you see our show page. Little button says follow click that you can subscribe. Make sure you get all the updates and folks, we always appreciate you spending time with us. I'm TJ. Holmes on behalf of my dear Amy Robot Tuxer