Over the weekend, Donald Trump raged out on Pope Leo/Bob, declaring the pope to be “weak on crime” and “terrible on foreign policy.” As we’ve documented for a full decade, Trump is criminally stupid and evil incarnate, not to mention fully in the throes of dementia. Trump’s beef with Pope Bob is indefensible, and yet… all of the most loyal MAGA cucks are doing their best to defend it. Enter JD Vance, the anti-Midas Touch, the man who reverses right-wing fortunes with a swipe of guyliner and a pompous “well actually.” Vance wasn’t content to blow the Iran negotiations or watch as Viktor Orban, the Hungarian fascist he endorsed, lost a national election. Vance had to go on Fox News to defend Trump’s Pope Bob rant. Vance said the funniest f–king thing too, it might be even funnier than “the Pope is weak on crime.”
Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism as an adult, is advising Pope Leo XIV to “stick to matters of morality.”
During a stop on Fox News on Monday, April 13, Vance was asked about President Donald Trump’s recent Truth Social post criticizing the first American pope. Vance at first acknowledged that Pope Leo and Trump, 79, would have policy disagreements before sharing what he thought was “best” for the Vatican to do.
“I certainly think that in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality,” Vance, 41, told Fox News’ Brett Baier. “To stick to matters of, you know, what’s going on in the Catholic Church and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy. But when they’re in conflict, they’re in conflict.”
“I don’t worry too much about it, Brett,” Vance continued, before suggesting that disagreements between Pope Leo, 70, and Trump could happen in the future.
On Sunday, April 12, Trump posted a long rant on Truth Social about the pontiff, calling him “WEAK on Crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy.”
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote. “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.”
The president later wrote that he does not “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.”
In response, Leo told reporters on Monday that he has “no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do,” per The New York Times.
“I’m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today,” Leo told reporters, later adding that he will continue to speak out against war, referring to the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran.
“Too many people are suffering in the world today,” Leo later said. “Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way.”
The reason Trump is so bothered by Pope Bob is because Bob isn’t a politician, nor can Bob be influenced by Trump’s regular mob tactics, tactics which Trump tends to employ with international leaders. That’s why Vance was sent out to cry about how the pope needs to “stick to matters of morality,” as if these are not some of the greatest moral crises of the 21st century: immigration, war, nuclear proliferation, extrajudicial killing, the rise of fascism, false prophets in the form of cult leaders, and on and on. Instead of arguing that “the pope has every right to say whatever he wants and we have the right to ignore him,” they’ve got that rancid Cabbage Doll on Fox News claiming that the pope doesn’t have the right to TEACH THE GOSPEL.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Vice President JD Vance with Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, November 18, 2025, in the East Room of the White House.,Image: 1053547972, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Daniel Torok/Avalon
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- United States Vice President JD Vance, left, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, look on as US President Donald J Trump meets with Taoiseach Prime Minister Michael Martin of Ireland in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. Copyright: xYurixGripasx/,Image: 1083914767, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Yuri Gripas / Pool via CNP /MediaPunch/Avalon
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- ITALY – POPE LEO XIV DURING THE WEEKLY GENERAL AUDIENCE AT THE VATICAN – 2026/4/8 Italy, Rome, Vatican, 2026/4/08 Pope Leo XIV during the weekly general audience at St Peter s Square in The Vatican EDITORIAL USE ONLY – NO BOOKS Copyright: xALESSIAxGIULIANIx,Image: 1089555263, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/ALESSIA GIULIANI/Avalon
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- ITALY – POPE LEO XIV DURING THE WEEKLY GENERAL AUDIENCE AT THE VATICAN – 2026/4/8 Italy, Rome, Vatican, 2026/4/08 Pope Leo XIV during the weekly general audience at St Peter s Square in The Vatican EDITORIAL USE ONLY – NO BOOKS Copyright: xALESSIAxGIULIANIx,Image: 1089555903, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/ALESSIA GIULIANI/Avalon
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- United States Vice President JD Vance speaks during a press briefing in the James S Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House Featuring: Vice President JD Vance Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 08 Jan 2026 Credit: Bonnie Cash/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
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- United States Vice President JD Vance on the phone following the swearing in of Colin McDonald as Assistant Attorney General for National Fraud Enforcement in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, USA, 01 April 2026. Featuring: JD Vance Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 01 Apr 2026 Credit: Will Oliver/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
In a couple of days that he spent in Hungary and endorsed Orban, the opposing candidate’s popularity grew from 63% to 70%. Just in those couple of days. That’s a direct influence of Vance endorsing someone, people flock to the opposing side. So this is really good for Pope’s approval and popularity. Even I, as ex Catholic, have positive view of the Church now. BEcause of Pope standing his ground against Trump and Vance
I know that I didn’t have “standing with the RCC” on my bingo card. 😉
I said the same thing to my husband last night!! Pope Leo is definitely my kind of Pope.
Right?
I’m an atheist and I’m no longer trying to convince my Catholic husband to hand in his membership card.
No idea how I got here, but I’m actually reading and *liking* posts by Pope Bob and people who are Vatican-adjacent, like journalists.
JD Vance is really trying to get excommunicated.
@Megan, let’s pray he does.
Just me patiently waiting for an interviewer to ask this VP when he first noticed the president’s cognitive decline and what he intends to do about it. Because ranting and raving at the Pope who takes his role as moral authority on matters of war and peace and human suffering seriously is an obvious symptom of cognitive decline and being totally unfit for his job.
Vance can go eff a couch.
And that image of the too-tight tuxedo shirt (worn without an undershirt) is nauseating.
As always, excellent picture choice but rough for the breakfast reader fighting to keep food in.
Yes, what in the 1970s junior prom is that mess?
Am I hallucinating or does Vance have a circular, tan stain around his left nipple on his tuxedo shirt?
Looks strange, doesn’t it?
Makes me wonder what JDwhateverVance did for the shirt to look like that.
Is he breastfeeding?!
I see it, too. And wish I could pour bleach in my eyes now.
His nipple piercing is leaking his hydraulic fluid.
That’s what I thought too. But he must have spilled Coke, or bourbon, or bourbon and Coke on himself. And he needs an undershirt STAT! No one should ever have to see even a hint of Vance’s nipples. Not Usha. Not the couch. No one.
Outside of repressed dictatorship regimes like Putin’s and Kim Jong Un’s, the two other groups that command ridiculous number of dirty bum-licking syncophants are those of the British monarchy and Trumpian orbit. There must be enough money and shiny medals/titles/privileges that attract such obsequiousness and disregard for one’s morality and soul.
Rancid Cabbage doll! I am dying!
@Kaiser and the phrasing is one of my favourite things about this site.
Please continue using Rancid Cabbage Doll, pretty please?
That son of a b***h doesn’t know the meaning of the word morality for him to be spewing it! He is a member of the most immoral pack of rabid evil shits to ever exist!! Pope Leo will continue doing his work!!
It is a fundamental problem that Vance does not understand that word. Suggesting that the Pope stick to matters of morality while the Pope is speaking directly about matters of morality sums up Vance’s ignorance.
C’mon Bob. Excommunicate him!
That needs to happen as soon as possible because obviously his god is the 🍊💩..
He absolutely should excommunicate him. For the evil he unleashed in Springfield Ohio alone, and don’t get me started on the rest of the world.
Doing it now would cause a lot of drama, but I hope he remembers how this regime literally threatened a sitting pope when all the dust settles.
Vance, the self-described “baby Catholic” is so out of his league. Cosplaying a theologian on Fox is a much better fit for him that the Vice Presidency—good to see he’s looking for future employment elsewhere.
While his brown-nosing rhetoric won’t get him excommunicated from the Church (Pope Bob is too savvy for that sort action and all the drama that would entail), Vance could be denied the Sacraments by the higher ups in the diocese of his parish—something I’d love to see. (He strikes me as the sort that chews the communion wafer.)
Were there MAGA-ites, priests, bishops who insisted Biden should be denied communion because of his pro-choice stance on abortion rights?
Where are all those riled up folks now on Vance and his pro-genocide, pro-starve children, bomb hospitals, pro-fascist dictator, pro-orange anti-Christ stances?
Omg I love the reference to communion chewers.. because it’s so true.
OK, as a non-catholic, I’ve got to ask–what’s up with the chewing of communion wafers? Are you just supposed to swallow them whole? Do they dissolve in your mouth???
Italy’s Giorgia Merloni bashed Trump today and backed the Pope. The Pope is doing his job and doing it well. Vance needs to answer why he’s not protecting the U.S. from a deranged dotard. I know why he’s not doing anything now but he needs to be challenged every time he approaches a microphone
I’ve grown quite unfond of this man. Understatement.
Converting to Catholicism was only ever a political move for Vance.
Absolutely!
He’ll convert to evangelical Protestantism when it’s expedient.
Didn’t he convert to some kind of New Catholicism strain that basically justified his brand of anti-immigrant, anti- woman, nativism? I think it’s known as “post liberalist” or something like that, but they advocate taking over governments, universities, and other institutions.
Like this guy looked at the very famously conservative Catholic Church and was like Nah, dog, I’m gonna need something even more conservative.
Yikes. He is literally a tech bro creation. There is nothing genuine about him, not even his name. Last week Celebitchy posted a horrifying link to an article about how badly tech has affected kids learning, concentration and curiousity. The trend really started much earlier. Social media has been equally destructive for many older people. Vance is a highly educated man who spouts absolute nonsense. He has to know he is continuously lying, but gleefully lies anyway because the gay billionaire who created him is pulling his strings. He converted to Catholism because he was told to and criticizes the pope because he was told to. He has no depth, no morals and no understanding of how things work. The last year has been fascinating watching Putin’s bots scare people into believing this couch f#$ker could possibly be worse than mango. Vance is a charisma vaccuum who represents only small numbers of tRump supporters. His ineptitude is his primary feature. Mango picked a veep he knew could never unite the Republikkkans against him while he picked the billionaire tech bros pockets.
See, that’s why I’m not worried about trump’s imminent death, impeachment/removal, 25th amendment removal. People DESPISE Vance–that recent jump in the polls for Orban’s opponent is a perfect example. Plus there’s no cult of personality around vance as there is for trump. All of Peter Thiel’s money isn’t going to change the utter disdain & hatred people have for vance.
Am I nuts or is there a ring/wet stain on his shirt on the right? Is he lactating? This really is the dumbest timeline.
Nope. It’s there. And it’s so gross.
It is SO gross!!! It’s a brown sweat stain (??) and no undershirt?? 🤢🤢🤢
Morality, like, war crimes?
I’m pretty sure that war is a matter of morality… you know, “thou shalt not kill”? Also, pretty sure that the Pope wouldn’t want ANY country to have nuclear weapons, JD.
Not a Catholic, not even a Christian, but you know, policy and morality can’t always be separated. Maybe not ever.
With Vance it’s almost like he’s trying to win a Break the 10-Commandments Bingo
Worshiping a false god (Trump, Money,Power), not honoring father and mother, killing (encouraging, justifying, etc), stealing, coveting (many things, not just VPOTUS’s plane), bearing false witness.
And that’s just the ones he’s done blatantly, in public, often with mics and cameras right in front of him.
What could be more immoral than threatening to destroy an entire country? It’s no surprise that he fails at diplomacy.
It’s kind of hilarious that this a**hole just published a book about his conversion to Catholicism. Hope he gets excommunicated and the book has to be pulped.
With a Protestant church on the cover
No! Really?! That is too funny!
He’s such a punk. He’s exactly the type of vice president that Thump deserves, an utterly useless tool who wreaks havoc wherever he goes.
So I guess we’re scrapping the Geneva Convention along with NATO and the U.S. constitution. Trump and his “new barbarians” administration wear suits and Florsheim clown shoes and have the brains and morality of … I don’t know, toxic bacteria? There’s no low form of life to compare these people to, they are literally worse than anything.
I’m not sure JD Vance even knows what morality is or could define the word.
Don’t let Vance anywhere near Pope Bob. We know what he did to the last one.
“I certainly think that in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality,” What cases should the pope not stick to matters of morality? That’s his whole job! And starting a war and killing innocent people is immoral so the pope is the perfect person to address this. Vance should be excommunicated. No one believes he’s actually Catholic anyway.
Right? In ‘some’ cases?
Who’s gonna tell VP “Smokey Eye” that attacking another country and killing civilians IS a matter of morality?
Vance is not a real Catholic so who cares?
Has anyone else noticed how rough he’s been looking? I love that for him!!
Is really telling the Pope to “shut up and pray”? To hell with this guy. (Like others, did I expect to be defending the Pope? Absolutely not. The cardinals chose well for our time.)
When Iran is more offended than members of his party, we have a problem. Vile, despicable people who use religion as a battering ram to attack people but don’t know or care what it actually means when it comes to helping people and valuing others.
Paintybox, how about fungus, what Jane Muir wrote about Fergie? Or was it fungicide? I don’t know why is worse, but either will do in this race to the bottom. And this asshole Vance, a supposed Catholic, thinks it’s morally okay to threaten the Pope? That HAS to be the most insane, horrific lockstep in presidential history!
As Pontiff, the Pope is Head of State of the Holy See. He is absolutely responsible for Vatican foreign policy; and, in that capacity, he is absolutely in his rights, like other heads of state, to criticize Trump—and Vance, as a good Roman Catholic, would/should absolutely know this.
“ as if these are not some of the greatest moral crises of the 21st century: immigration, war, nuclear proliferation, extrajudicial killing, the rise of fascism, false prophets in the form of cult leaders, and on and on.”
10000% spot on
Well said!
It would be best for JD Vance to stick his nose where his affairs are, up his own and Trump’s ars*s….
Bidynsptic, nobody ever said Vance was a good Catholic, just that he converted to Catholicism.