Analysis: Trump is feuding with a pope — again. Why it’s different this time | CNN Politics

Few demographics were more important to President Donald Trump’s 2024 win than Catholics. While Catholics usually split close to 50-50, the data shows Trump won between 55% and 59% of them — apparently the most of any presidential candidate in decades. Just 17 months later, Trump is clashing with a pope … again. This time, it might have a more lasting impact. Trump went on to win the 2016 election after a brief spat with Pope Francis. But his new dispute with Pope Leo XIV is different. Late Sunday, Trump lashed out at Pope Leo’s criticisms of the Iran war in a lengthy social media post, which: A member of Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, Bishop Robert Barron, called the post “entirely inappropriate and disrespectful” and said “the President owes the Pope an apology.” Trump then took things to a whole new level by posting an apparently AI-generated fake image depicting himself as a Christ-like figure healing a sick person. It’s an image that many critics, including some who supported Trump, like the Knights Templar International, labeled blasphemous. Trump later deleted the post and on Monday claimed he thought it depicted him as a doctor, which it did not.