Right after the news broke that Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the new pope of the Roman Catholic Church, the internet produced lots of evidence that he has promoted articles critical of JD Vance and Donald Trump, and even expressed sympathy for George Floyd. That prompted MAGA figures to erupt in anger. They attacked the new pope as anti-Trump, pro–open borders, a Marxist, and soft on thugs and drug dealers, as Media Matters documented. We talked to the excellent political theorist Matt McManus, who was raised in the church and regularly wrestles with the intellectual roots of today’s right wing, including in his 2023 book, The Political Right and Equality. He explains what Vance gets wrong about Catholic teaching, why it’s so inimical to Trumpism, and how today’s pro-Trump influencers and “post-liberal” Catholic intellectuals alike are refusing to reckon with what MAGA has truly become. Listen to this episode here. A transcript is here.
PODCAST
MAGA Rage Erupts as New Pope’s Views of Trump Prove Unexpectedly Harsh
As MAGA personalities fume about the newly elected pope’s indictments of Trump and JD Vance, a political theorist steeped in the post-liberal right decodes why Trumpism is so inimical to Catholic teaching.
Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost, arrives on the main central loggia balcony of St Peter’s Basilica for the first time, after the conclave in The Vatican, on May 8.
