Conservative Host Scorched For Setting The Bar 'Extremely Low' On Trump
Right-wing radio host Ben Ferguson on Thursday questioned why Donald Trump wasn't getting enough 'credit' for his standard grade response to Pope Leo XIV becoming leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
The president, in remarks outside the White House, called it a 'great honor' for the pontiff to be the first ever from the United States and later took to his Truth Social platform to offer his congratulations.
'I think that's probably maybe a little different than what he would have said in 2016,' said Ferguson — co-host of the 'Verdict' podcast with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — of the response in a CNN panel discussion on the new pope.
'You look at what he said, saying, 'This is a great day.' He actually took politics out of it as the president of the United States of America, which most people are wanting him to get involved politically.'
Trump notably clashed with Pope Francis a number of times prior to his death, which he reacted to with a brief message on Truth Social.
Catholic leaders later slammed the president for sharing an AI-generated image of himself as the pope.
Bakari Sellers, a former South Carolina state representative, swiftly hit back at Ferguson's take.
'That bar is extremely low and I think by setting the bar —,' Sellers said.
'But can you give a little credit?' Ferguson interjected.
'No,' Sellers replied.
'So, in other words, even when Donald Trump does something right on the pope, you're now saying, 'I'm still going to criticize him?'' Ferguson replied.
'No, because, I mean, this is not an issue of politics. This is an issue of things like love and empathy and truth,' Sellers added.
'Then why don't show some of that toward the president when he gets it right on a nonpartisan issue of the pope?' Ferguson said.
'Because I'm not going to simply give you credit for coming out and doing something that you're supposed to do,' Sellers stressed.
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