Media positions Pope Leo XIV as potential 'counterweight' to Trump
Pope Leo XIV has been hailed as a major contrast to President Donald Trump by some in the press after the American-born cardinal was chosen to be the next leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday, with several liberal media figures wondering if he will serve as a counterbalance to the president and his policies.
"I think it's so timely that we have an American pope because we are going through things in this country, and it is good to show the world that not all American leaders are the same. It's good to have an American that can denounce the things happening against immigrants here," said "The View" co-host Ana Navarro on Monday.
"People are being dragged into the streets. Mothers are being separated from their children as they're breastfeeding. The things that are happening in this country are horrible, and I love that there's going to be someone who can call it out in English," she added.
After being selected as the first pontiff from the United States to lead the Church, Pope Leo presided over his first mass on Friday.
ABC News host Martha Raddataz spoke to Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago, on Sunday and asked if the new pope would be a "counterbalance" to Trump.
"Pope Francis cared so much about the poor and migrants. Pope Leo does as well. In some ways, will he be a counterbalance for what's happening in American politics right now and President Trump?" she said.
Cupich responded, "I think he's going to help complete and complement our political agenda. He'll talk a lot about the immigrants as well, because he knows about the sufferings of people and the real needs that they have for a better life."
Raddatz posed the same question to her ABC panel, and ABC's Terry Moran argued it was likely inevitable that they would clash.
"Reluctantly. Right?" ABC's Terry Moran responded. "They are the two most famous Americans in the world right now. And arguably, Pope Leo might be even more famous than President Trump and whether the pope wants it or not, because I think he wants to preach the Gospel and do the good work of the Church. They have different approaches naturally in some ways, and I think that is going to come out."
Moran continued, "He will be a voice for the teachings of Jesus, which, in many ways, many Catholics believe are not consistent with some of the president's policies. That will happen. I don't think he's going to go look for a fight, but it will happen."
Several headlines from Time Magazine, NPR and more suggested the selection of Leo would lead to a clash with Trump on certain policies. NPR's headline read, "Pope Leo XIV may help Vatican explore the 'great uncertainty' that is Trump's America." Time Magazine published a headline that read, "In Pope Leo XIV, Donald Trump Finds a New Foil."
Politico Europe reported, "when the 133 cardinal voters sequestered themselves in the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday to elect the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, they settled on not just an American but one who could, plausibly, act as a counterweight against the impulsive U.S. president."
"This was not wholly by chance. When the cardinals eventually found unity on a new pontiff, the progressives among them were aware that Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost, a 69-year-old former missionary with a mixed heritage, was a leader who could provide an alternative voice to Trump," the report continued, citing two cardinals who remained anonymous.
MSNBC's Chris Jansing asked former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi if Pope Leo would be a "moral" voice to counter Trump's immigration policies, citing social media posts written by Leo prior to becoming the pope.
"Do you think that at this moment, when so many people are looking to him, he could be impactful as a moral and ethical voice on that issue that we're dealing with, when so many people are being deported or fear it?" Jansing asked.
Pelosi responded, "I certainly hope so."
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell asked Sister Simone Campbell on Thursday if Leo was among the cardinals who stand in opposition to Trump.
"We have seen some American cardinals who, I guess the way I would put it, are surprisingly sympathetic to Donald Trump. They try not to be overtly political, but you can tell that there's a certain chumminess and sense of support of Donald Trump by some of them. And we also have many American cardinals who stand in opposition to so much of what Donald Trump stands for. Can we place the new pope somewhere in that mix? Do we know enough?" O'Donnell asked.
Campbell pointed to Leo's social media posts and said he stood with the migrants.
MSNBC's Ayman Mohyeldin posed a question to Princeton professor Eddie Glaude Jr. about the selection of Pope Leo XIV amid Trump's presidency.
"I'm curious to get your thoughts on the fact that this is an American pope at a time when America's moral standing in the world has plummeted. We were speaking to Father Robert Hagen earlier this evening, and he said this was a pope for the time that we find ourselves in," Mohyeldin began.
"And I'm just thinking about the time that we do find ourselves in, with America having this moral reckoning internally, and now this pope who, in real time, the MAGA world found out was maybe not an America-first pope that they would have hoped for. Steve Bannon has said that there's going to be friction between the new pope and Donald Trump," he continued.
Glaude said it was historical, but said he was more interested in Leo's theology.
"How theologically he can respond to where the country is, the way he's interpreting or understanding the role of Christ in our lives, the importance of love in relation to the most vulnerable among us," he said.
During Leo's first meeting with journalists on Monday, the pope called for the release of imprisoned journalists and affirmed the "precious gift of free speech and the press." He also told the journalists they must act responsibly in using artificial intelligence in their work, asking them to "ensure that it can be used for the good of all, so that it can benefit all of humanity."
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