Pope Leo shared content critical of Trump, Vance's immigration policies in social media posts
Prior to being elected pontiff, Pope Leo XIV had a presence on Twitter, and later X, where he sometimes shared messages that appeared to be critical of some of President Donald Trump's policies.
Cardinal Robert Prevost appears to have an X account with the handle @drprevost and posted, replied and reposted content since 2011, according to his page.
A picture of Prevost and Pope Francis holding each others arms in their robes inside a church is the profile image for the account.
While most of the new pope's 439 posts involved posting articles about the latest developments from the Vatican and dioceses from around the world, he did share other posts from time to time dealing with political matters.
MORE: What we know about Leo XIV, the new American pope
He last posted on April 14, when he shared a post from prominent American Catholic commentator Rocco Palmo that criticized Trump and El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's controversial immigration policies.
" As Trump & Bukele use Oval to 🤣 Feds' illicit deportation of a US resident …, once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC Aux +Evelio asks, "Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?" Palmo's post read.
Palmo linked to a Catholic Standard editorial written by Bishop Evelio Menjivar, an auxiliary bishop of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.
In an interview with ABC News on Thursday, Pope Leo's brother John Prevost in Chicago said immigration is an important issue for his brother.
"I think because the way our country is going, I don't think he necessarily will always agree [with] what's happening. I think a big thing for him is immigration and is it right -- what's going on? I think that will be a challenge for him, because I think he'll say something about it, too."
Asked about his brother's X account, John Prevost said, "I know that's his feelings, but I didn't know he was putting it out on social media."
MORE: Pope Leo XIV pledges to 'build bridges' in 1st remarks as pontiff
The pope's last original X post was on Feb. 13, when he posted a link to an America magazine editorial that criticized Vice President JD Vance about his interpretation of the Latin phrase "ordo amoris." Vance contended in a Fox News interview, that the idea meant that one must love their family first before the community.
Pope Francis sent a letter to bishops after Vance's comment rebuking that interpretation without naming the vice president.
Pope Leo, however, appeared to criticize Vance directly in a Feb. 3 post, where he linked to a National Catholic Reporter editorial that dismissed the vice president's stance on immigration.
He shared the headline of the article "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others" and linked to the full story in his post.
Leo had not posted on X between July 2023 and Feb. 3.
The Vatican has not immediately commented about the social media account or posts.
Vance and Trump both congratulated the pope on his election on social media posts.
"I'm sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!" Vance wrote on X Thursday.
Pope Leo shared content critical of Trump, Vance's immigration policies in social media posts originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
11 minutes ago
- Newsweek
MAGA Supporters Counter Anti-ICE Protests: 'Go Back to Mexico'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Several Donald Trump supporters in Tampa, Florida, have started counter-protests to anti-ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, demonstrations. Video footage posted on X, formerly Twitter, shows a man holding a red "MAGA country" flag chanting "we want ICE" and telling a woman holding a Mexican flag: "If you love Mexico, go back to Mexico." In another clip, a group of men can be seen holding a Trump-Vance banner, before move for a truck coming through. Hundreds gathered outside Tampa's City Hall to protest on Monday, after a weekend of violent clashes between anti-ICE demonstrators and law enforcement. Police intervened during some heated moments between anti-ICE protesters and counter-protesters but there was no violence, according to Tampa broadcaster FOX13. This is a developing story - more to follow.
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Clip of Pope Leo XIV addressing Burkina Faso leader is fake
What was claimed: A video shows Pope Leo XIV addressing a speech to Burkina Faso's military ruler Captain Ibrahim Traoré. Our verdict: This clip has been edited and likely includes deepfake audio of the Pope. He hasn't delivered such a speech and the edited clip was first shared with a note saying it was a work of fiction. A clip supposedly showing Pope Leo XIV addressing a speech to Burkina Faso's military ruler Capt Ibrahim Traoré is being shared on social media. But this is not a real speech and the clip was edited, most likely using artificial intelligence. The 36-minute video appears to show Pope Leo, who was elected head of the Catholic church on 8 May, reading a speech from sheets of paper. The speech begins: 'We will no longer sit at global summits in silence when African leaders are told to privatise their future. To His Excellency President Ibrahim [Traoré], president of the sovereign nation of Burkina Faso, son of the African soil, defender of his people, may grace and peace be multiplied.' He then continues to speak about colonialism in Africa, the church, and politics on the continent today, among other things. The video, which is grainy and glitchy, has music playing in the background and was shared by a Facebook page called Ghanaba News. Graphics saying 'Ghanaba News' appear at the start and end of the clip. It was shared with a caption saying: 'Pope Leo XIV speaks truth as he back [sic] Burkina Faso leader Captain Ibrahim Traore'. Captain Traoré became Burkina Faso's military leader after seizing power in a coup in September 2022. However, this is not a real speech delivered by the Pope. It was originally shared on YouTube on 17 May 2025 with a note low down in the description saying: 'This video is a work of fiction inspired by the life of Ibrahim Traoré. While some elements are based on real events, the situations and dialogues described are entirely imaginary and do not reflect any actual events'. While the footage used in the clip is genuine, we could find no evidence that this is real audio of the Pope speaking. It is very likely a deepfake audio clip created with artificial intelligence. The footage comes from a real recording of him delivering a speech in Italian on 12 May 2025, in which he called for press freedom to be defended, and urged the world to 'reject the paradigm of war'. The Pope can be seen shuffling his papers and looking up at the audience in the real footage [13:00], which matches his movements in the edited clip [9:58]. The Vatican published an official transcript translated into English, which shows the Pope was not addressing President Traoré, and did not mention Africa. Several things suggest the audio of Pope Leo speaking is a deepfake. Associate Professor from the University of Reading and expert in generative AI, Dr Dominic Lees, told Full Fact that the presence of an unlikely music soundtrack over a video like this is 'frequently used to mask the poor qualities of voice cloning'. Voice cloning is when AI uses a sample of someone speaking to identify speech patterns it then replicates. Dr Lees said: 'No official video of a speech by a Pope has ever been given a music backing, so this one by Pope Leo XIV has certainly been manipulated. Note that there is no room ambience around the voice in this fake video: the voice clone used here has been produced by a text-to-speech AI process, which is unable to create the natural sound of a recording made of a person in a room.' Another sign that this is a deepfake is that the Pope pronounces Capt Traoré's name differently in successive sentences [2:56]. The clip is also blurry around the mouth. Dr Lees has previously said this is a sign a deepfake has been poorly lip synced with footage because artificial intelligence finds it 'very difficult to generate a natural look in the teeth so often leave this blurry and out-of-focus.' While it is very likely that this is a deepfake, we can't be certain because there are other methods, such as different editing techniques or using a voice actor, that could have been used instead. We've contacted Ghanaba News and the Vatican for comment, and will update this article if we receive a response. As technology advances, deepfakes are becoming increasingly realistic and harder to distinguish from genuine footage. Our guide to spotting deepfake videos and AI audio provides practical tools to help tell whether they're genuine. This is not the first time we've fact checked content relating to Pope Leo XIV, including an altered image showing him with rappers and a quote widely attributed to him that we could find no evidence he actually said.
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump travel ban could impact Afghan cricket players traveling to Major League matches
The Brief Five Afghan players are awaiting visa approvals to enter the U.S. after President Trump's travel ban went into effect on Monday. The players are expected to compete in a series of cricket matches held at the Oakland Coliseum this week. The SF Unicorns will be playing their opening match Thursday. OAKLAND, Calif. - A travel ban barring citizens from 12 countries from coming into the United States took effect on Monday. The plan, put in place by President Donald Trump, could have a big impact on a set of Major League Cricket matches held at the Oakland Coliseum this week. The SF Unicorns' opening match will be played at the Coliseum on Thursday, the first in a series of matches hosted in Oakland this week. Organizers hope to draw thousands of fans, but President Trump's new travel ban could keep some of the world's top cricket players out of the country and off the pitch. "There are some big names who will pull crowd whose visa is in doubt at this point," Hemant Buch, head of the California Cricket Academy in Santa Clara told KTVU. Buch has been training young cricket players in the Bay Area for 20 years, and he says these players need the best coaches and competitors to thrive. "We need players who have gone through the grind for years and years, who have that persona and passion, to pass on their knowledge, and that will only come from the international community at this point," Buch said. The travel ban is aimed at 12 countries, primarily in Africa and the Middle East, including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Afghanistan is on that list, and five major league cricket players from the country may not be permitted to enter the U.S. For this week's tournament. Shakaib Rahimi is an ambassador for Afghan cricket players, and has been assisting teams in getting visas processed. He says barring Afghan players will leave a mark on the sport at a critical time of growth. "Afghanistan cricket is on the rise, and not having Rashid Khan or any other Afghanistan national player participate will definitely have a negative impact," Rahimi told KTVU. Of the seven Afghan players contracted with the MLC, only two are currently in the U.S. ahead of this week's matches. The other five players are awaiting visa approval. Rahimi says those players are not currently in Afghanistan, which could have complicated their ability to travel. Dig deeper Cricket is growing in the U.S., and the international community is an important part of the game. Folks we spoke to say losing out on big names could affect the sport's future success in the states. "Now every city wants cricket. We will need international coaches," Buch said. And it's not just coaches — American cricket players also need the chance to compete with the best in their age group, including international players. "In India the boys are playing… seven days a week, here the boys are playing twice a week," said Biml Jadej, a coach with CCA. The travel ban currently allows athletes from banned countries to enter the U.S. for "major sporting events". Organizers say they are awaiting the Department of State's decision on whether this tournament will fall into that category. KTVU reached out to the Department of State for the status of those visas, but the department did not make anyone available in time for this report. Officials with the MLC say they are hopeful the Afghan players will be able to get to the U.S., but they will be ready for this week's matches, no matter what. "We're pretty fluid and there is backup… The bulk of our international players are in already, and they've come in very smoothly. It's out of our hands, to a degree, we've done what we can to mitigate it," Justin Geale, Chief Operating Officer for Major League Cricket. If you're interested in attending any of the matches at the Coliseum this week, ticket information can be found at the MLC website.
