A miracle unfolds: Pope Leo is taking Trump down without even saying his name

A new poll shows Trump at his lowest approval, with his attack on the pontiff having sent him tumbling further.

Donald Trump’s latest and most direct attacks on the pope have only elevated Pope Leo to celestial heights while sending Trump’s numbers to the bowels of hell.

A new Reuters poll has Trump at his lowest approval in that poll, at 36%, following his lambasting the pope (while an American Research poll—a conservative outlet—has him at an all-time low of 32%). The six-day poll of over 4000 Americans shows that across party lines Americans are concerned about Trump’s “job performance, temper, and mental sharpness” with the Iran war and the attacks on Pope Leo playing into their decisions. Trump’s “attacks on Pope Leo have drawn attention in part because Americans have a generally higher opinion of the pontiff than they do of the president.”

In the poll, 60% of Americans—obviously across religious denominations—have a favorable view of the pope. Among American Catholics in particular, in recent polls, Leo has an 84% approval rating. Trump always saw himself as untouchable, but he’s clearly unnerved coming up against someone who is truly untouchable, exposing to Trump his own weakness.

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Trump seemed to have been afraid of this for over a year now, as he previously had others do the dirty work of trying to squash the pope, rather than do it himself. He knew that Leo’s criticism of the U.S. government on the brutal mass deportations and, later, on the invasion of Venezuela, could shape public opinion, galvanizing many who were opposed.

We learned recently that back in January Trump had the Pentagon threaten Leo after his State of the World speech.

That obviously didn’t work. Leo continued to strongly condemn the invasion of Venezuela, the ugly ICE raids, and then, in recent weeks, the war in Iran. Leo also pointed to Trump’s reckless post on Easter Sunday, a threat to “wipe out” a civilization, and his and Pete Hegseth’s use of God and Christianity to promote war and violence.

Leo’s secret weapon is that he rarely if ever uses Trump’s name. This is key because Trump can’t accept any dissent, anywhere, but he also is a narcissist who actually wants to be named by those with whom he disagrees and whom he rails against. The back and forth, in his mind, elevates him, particularly if it’s a back and forth with someone as prominent as the pope. But by not naming Trump specifically and individually—the closest Leo has come is saying he has no “fear” of the “Trump administration”—it diminishes Trump in his own mind.

That has triggered Trump to further attack the pope, hoping to get a direct attack back, which only further angers many in the American public. His posting of the AI image of himself as Jesus, following his post accusing the pope of being “weak on crime,” was meant to say he is the one truly like Jesus, that he is above the pope. This was so ludicrous that, beyond the charges of blasphemy by the faithful of all Christian denominations, it was not to be taken seriously.

Leo treated it more like a child’s rant—something you rise above if not quite dismiss—rather than as a real conflict with an adult world leader. He responded by staying on message—a disciplined politician as well as religious leader—speaking out against the actions of the administration and the violence of the war.

And then he let it all play out among the politicians, the pundits, and the public—many of them devout Catholics—as he headed to Africa on a trip that has now received much more attention because Trump had focused so much on him.

Even when asked about Trump specifically, including on his trip to Africa in recent days, Leo didn’t name him and even refuted the idea that he’s debating him. He explained that his comments on war, for example, had been “prepared two weeks ago, well before the person had ever commented on me and on the message of peace that I am promoting,” adding, “it was looked at as if I was trying to debate the president, which is not in my interest at all.”

Calling Trump “the person” and saying he’s not even debating him—it’s all in Trump’s mind—is the kind of response that drives Trump crazy. Trump is really having a one-sided fight, his bullying not eliciting the kind of reaction he wants.

The result has been that Leo is more highly regarded than ever in the U.S. and around the world. As I reminded readers here two weeks ago, there was a method to the selection of Leo, and Francis was very clearly involved in that before his death, preparing for this exact moment in the world.

Upon Leo’s becoming pope, there was a lot of discussion among the American Catholic leaders deeply immersed in Republican politics and MAGA about how he was a break from Francis and would supposedly be more “moderate” or, some hoped, even “conservative.” Leo threw them a few bones—like allowing them to continue the Latin Mass after Francis had put on the brakes—and had a lower, quieter profile at first. He met with the rabid MAGA cardinal who tried to take down Francis, Cardinal Raymond Burke, giving him a hearing, as he did with other Francis critics.

These mild gestures—and his more deliberate style—helped endear Leo to many conservative Catholics. But in terms of the issues he is elevating as pope, there’s no question he is in the mold of Francis, focused on the poor, on immigrants, on workers, and on the environment. And if there was any doubt at first, Leo has made it clear that he’s continuing Francis’s promotion of acceptance and inclusion of LGBTQ people.

So Trump’s swinging and missing in attempting to hit the Pope, and Trump’s AI Jesus meme, have only given Leo—who is defending the working class and the downtrodden—more power and more stature. Trump has helped further define Leo as a moral leader for all, while some MAGA conspiracists have now broken from Trump after this episode, and are actually calling Trump the “antichrist.”

I’d say that’s a miracle.