Really, Now the Pope??

This should be the announcement from Democrats: “We are ending NO KINGS rallies. Future protests will now be called NO KING OF KINGS rallies.”

In a future Saturday Night Live skit that writes itself, President Trump has accused Pope Leo of being “soft on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy.”

Then, in another typical late night social media post where his advisors continue to NOT advise him, the president produced an A.I.-generated picture of himself, as a Jesus-like figure laying on of hands and performing miracles, while military attacks are depicted behind him. Wait a minute – is the guy he’s saving Jeffrey Epstein?

“… I don’t 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…” the Messiah-in-Chief told reporters. Apparently 49.8% is a landslide.

“I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA,” the president posted on Truth Social. “He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!”

Trump’s rebuke of the Pope came after Pope Leo made a heartfelt plea during a peace vigil at St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City on Saturday. His message called for world leaders to end hostilities and to return to diplomatic rather than military solutions.

“Soft on crime?” Are we really concerned that Pope Leo is pro-crime?

There are no more rules in politics, no more norms, no more guardrails.

One of those unwritten rules was, “don’t pick a fight with the Pope.” You can now scratch that one off the unwritten list.

I can anticipate the MAGA responses. The Pope shouldn’t be political. The picture was a joke. No one should ever question the president. The president took down the post (after a great deal of backlash – yes, he did), the next day. Pass me another cup of Kool Aid.

Aren’t you tired of defending the indefensible?

Let’s tally up the bragging. Trump has claimed to have done more race relations than Lincoln. He has boasted of accomplishments that one-up Washington and FDR. His IQ is higher than any past president, evidenced by his uncanny ability to recognize a giraffe. And now the president is doing employee evaluations on the Holy Father, determining already that he is “not doing a very good job,” while posting a picture of himself as Jesus (a step up from last year when he posted one of himself as Pope).

Note: Yes, when Trump took down his Jesus post, he noted that he intended his image to look like a doctor in his meme. He is unsure how anyone could mistake it for anything else. Fake News. I included the picture here, so you can decide and defend. And perhaps he should concentrate on being president instead of spending time creating offensive memes.

Are evangelicals continuing to defend this? Is there ANYTHING that this guy might do that would warrant a sniff of disapproval from his base? ONE THING? EVER?

“Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life,” That was the message the Pope Leo delivered to the congregation gathered.

Those words offended the man who posted, on Easter Sunday, “ Open the F*****’ Strait, you crazy b*******, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”

Anticipating a MAGA defense, let’s ask two questions: One, which of those two statements might you find offensive, and two, what would your reaction have been if the Trump post had come from Joe Biden?

Biden admittedly had shortcomings, and he often put his foot in his mouth; but it was usually by mistake. Your guy has started a public feud with the Pope, while posting Messiah selfies.

Imagine predicting this behavior to someone twenty years ago. “Hey, in the future, a U.S. president is going to threaten the Pope, accuse him of being weak on crime, and then post a selfie of himself as Jesus.”

Really? Oh, that’s just Trump being Trump.

There was a time, not that long ago, when conservatives prided themselves on a reverence for religious institutions, respect for faith leaders, and genuine admiration and support for the leader of a billion Catholics globally. I shared that conservative attitude. I still do.

Now? A sitting president is attacking the Pope and portraying himself as Christ, and a sizable portion of the country is fine with it; or even cheering it on.

Satire is supposed to exaggerate reality to reveal absurdity. But lately, reality has been doing my job for me. When the Pope isn’t off-limits and when self-deification by a president on social media no longer surprises us, we have moved beyond normal politics.

And if you still applaud, still defend, still insist that this is all appropriate, or even normal, maybe the question isn’t whether the pope is soft on crime.

Maybe the real question is: how low can the bar go before we trip over it?

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Curt MacRae is a resident of Coldwater, MI and publishes opinion columns regularly.

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