Trump Offers Passive-Aggressive Response
Pope Francis is well-known for speaking to reporters on the papal jet and saying things off the top of his head – for example, his famous, “Who am I to judge?” about gay people. Wednesday, as The New York Times just reported, Pope Francis was asked about Donald Trump, strongly suggesting the GOP frontrunner is not a Christian because of his insistence of building a wall between Mexico and the United States.
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,†Pope Francis told reporters aboard the papal airliner on his way back to Rome from his trip to Mexico.
“Asked whether he would try to influence Catholics in how they vote in the presidential election,” the Times notes, “Francis said he ‘was not going to get involved in that’ but then repeated his criticism of Mr. Trump, with a caveat.”
“I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that,†the Pope said. “We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt.â€
Almost immediately upon the Times‘ story breaking, Trump shot back a response.
“If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President because this would not have happened,” Trump said in a statement.
“For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful. I am proud to be a Christian and as President I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened, unlike what is happening now, with our current President. No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man’s religion or faith.”
Trump last year infamously refused to correct a supporter who insisted not only was President Barack Obama a Muslim, but not even an American.
Â
Image by Aleteia Image Department via Flickr and a CC license