Maga criticizes the first American pope as not ‘America First’

Catholicism has rarely been more prominent in American politics, because the Trump government openly embraces advisers and officials who proudly say that faith has formed their politics.

But every cheers to the American makes America great again this week about the new Pope, disappeared quickly when important voices of the Maga movement of Donald Trump came a disappointed conclusion: the first American pope does not seem to be “America first”.

Little is known about the political tendencies of Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago.

He has expressed concern about the poor and immigrants, has chosen a name that refers to more liberal church leadership, and he seems to both have supported the liberally Pope Francis liberally and criticizes the policy of the US president on social media.

But so far the president has said that only the election of Leo was a “great honor” for the US. Yet some of the most prominent supporters of Trump were quickly to attack Pope Leo, as a possible challenge for Trump and on the perception that he will follow Pope Francis in areas such as immigration.

“I mean, it’s a kind of breathtaking,” Trump’s former main strategist Steve Bannon told the BBC on Friday and spoke about the Leo elections.

“It is shocking for me that a man could be selected to be the pope who had the Twitter feed and the statements he had against American senior politicians,” said Bannon, a trumping Trump-Loyalist, who practiced Catholic and former altar boy.

And he predicted that there will be “certainly friction” between Leo and Trump.

The pope’s brother, John Prevost, told the New York Times That he thinks his brother would express his disagreements with the president.

“I know he is not happy with what is going on with immigration,” he said. “I know for sure. How far he goes with it is just a gamble, but he won’t just lean back. I don’t think he will be the quiet.”

Recent survey data shows that about 20% of Americans identify as a Catholic, according to the non-party Pew Research Center.

About 53% identifies with or tend to the Republican Party, although there is also a lot of nuance: the two Catholic presidents of America, John F Kennedy and Joe Biden, were both Democrats. And almost two -thirds of the American Catholics believe that abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances – a deviation from the current position of the church.

American Catholics also supported Pope Francis: 78% of the respondents in February viewed him favorably, including a majority of the Catholic Republicans.

A number of Catholics in the home town of Chicago of the new Pope on Thursday broadcast disappointment with President Trump and said they hoped that Pope Leo XIV would follow the path of his predecessor.

“We hope that he will continue with Francis’s agenda in the future,” said Rick Stevens, a Catholic deacon from New Jersey who happened to visit Chicago when he heard the news.

The American conference of Catholic bishops, which leads and coordinates American Catholic activities, celebrated the elections of Pope Leo and the message it sends.

“Certainly, we look forward to chosen a son of this nation by the cardinals, but we acknowledge that he now belongs to all Catholics and all people of goodwill,” the conference said in a statement. “Are words arguing for peace, unity and mission activities already indicate a path ahead.”

Although Maga supporters represent a small subset of American Catholics, it is one with great access to conservative media and Trump’s ear.

On Bannon’s War Room Podcast – known for its hard right -wing, Pro -Trump bent – one guest after another criticism of the new Pope.

“This man was enormously embraced by the liberals and the progressives,” said Ben Harnwell, a journalist who led Bannon’s efforts to determine what he calls a “Gladiator school” for the “Judeo-Christian West” outside of Rome.

“He is one of their own … He has (pope) Francis’s DNA in him,” said Harnwell.

Jack Posobiec, another Maga commentator who came from Rome was Bot: “This choice of the American Cardinal was made as a reaction, as a message to President Trump.”

The full image of what led to the selection of Pope Leo on Thursday is still on the rise and church decisions have not been neatly mapped on American politics. Yet Watchers around the world have demanded Pope Leo’s social media profiles in search of clues about his tendencies and beliefs.

An X account under his name, with tweets that already go in 2015, shares ties with criticism of Trump for immigration and hints on other political views, such as stricter weapon control.

In February, the account sharply punished the American vice-president by placing a link to an opinion piece entitled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus does not ask us to rank our love for others”.

The account also placed a link to a letter from Pope Francis after crashing with Vance about ecclesiastical doctrine and immigration. VANCE – A Catholic convert – had given an interview to defend the Trump government’s immigration policy.

Vance has routinely invoked his confidence in the defense of the board, in particular immigration policy, the White House has said it has placed “America first”.

“There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then give priority to the rest of the world. Much of the left has completely reversed,” Vance Fox News said.

But American Democrats were also not spared on the account, which has been posting for more than ten years. They seem to support Catholic employers who refuse to pay for contraceptives through health plans for employees, and after the US presidential elections of 2016, one post links to an article accusing Democrat Hillary Clinton of ignoring pro-life Catholic voters.

The BBC asked the Vatican to confirm that Leo’s account was, but received no response.

Vice-President Vance told the conservative broadcaster Hugh Hewitt On Friday: “I try not to play the politicization of the pope game.

“I am sure he will say many things I love. I am sure he will say a number of things that I do not agree with, but despite all this, I will continue to pray for him and the church, and that will be the way I deal with it.”

The LGBTQ views of the new Pope are also unclear, but some groups, including the Conservative College of Cardinals, believe that he might be less supportive than Pope Francis.

Matt Walsh, a commentator with the conservative daily thread, wrote: “There are some good signs and bad signs with this new pope. I want to see what he actually does with his papacy before I give a kind of judgment.”

But some of the most dedicated Maga supporters have already made a decision.

Laura Loomer, an extreme right -wing influencer who has Trump’s ear, waving the president about the upper staff decisionsThe new pope “Anti-Trump, Anti-Maga, pro-open boundaries and a total Marxist such as Pope Francis”.

Bannon, who had presented Leo as a dark horse for papacy, predicted tensions between the White House and Vatican – and said they could even tear the American Catholics.

“Don’t forget that President Trump was not shy to have a chance on Pope Francis,” he said.

“So if this pope – whom he will do – tries to get between President Trump and his implementation of the mass deportation program, I would stand.”

Additional reporting by CAI Pecets