Republican senator criticizes Trump’s ‘holy war’ with Pope Leo

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a long supporter of Trump, says president’s feud with the pope is a ‘distraction’ A Republican lawmaker has condemned what he refers to as Donald Trump’s “holy war” against Pope Leo XIV. Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a long supporter of Trump and the ultraconservative Maga movement, condemned the president’s attacks on the pope during a Fox News interview on Saturday. “I love the president like a taco,” said Kennedy, using an odd turn of phrase. He added: “I don’t always agree with him, but I think he wants a better world. But I don’t agree with him about this new holy war with the pope.” The senator’s criticism, and his choice of words, might not sit well with Trump, given that his critics have been using the word “taco” as an acronym for “Trump always chickens out”. Kennedy is a Methodist and not a Catholic, a point he stressed in the interview, perhaps to distinguish himself from the first Catholic president, Democrat John F Kennedy. The Republican senator and his wife founded their local church chapter, according to his government biography. Kennedy added that he has “great respect for Catholicism”