Vance says he won’t play ‘politicization of the pope game’ over whether Leo XIV is conservative or liberal

Vice President JD Vance refused to talk politics about the newly elected pope on Friday, calling his election a “great thing.”

“So many people my entire lifetime have said you’re never going to have an American pope,” Vance told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt after being asked for his reaction to his election. “Obviously, now we do, so I think that’s a great thing.” 

Vance added that “We don’t know a whole lot about him, but I just wish him the best, right? I’m a Catholic. He’s now the head of the Catholic Church, and we’ll pray for his wisdom, for his good decisions, and his good health, and hope that he has a long and successful papacy.”

The vice president told Hewitt that something like the election of a new pope can often become “discolored” by politics. 

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“People are asking is he a conservative or is he a liberal,” Vance continued. “Will he attack President Trump and J.D. Vance on certain things, and hasn’t attacked Democrats on other things.”

He said his thoughts on that were that it’s hard to “fit a 2,000-year-old institution into the politics of 2025 America.”

Vance added that as a Catholic convert, he tries “not to play the politicization of the Pope game. I’m sure he’s going to say a lot of things that I love. I’m sure he’ll say some things that I disagree with, but I’ll continue to pray for him and the Church despite it all and through it all, and that’ll be the way that I handle it.”

Vance’s remarks came after news spread of an X account linked to Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, that reposted articles earlier this year criticizing the Trump administration on its deportation push. 

He also agreed with Hewitt that it was “disappointing” that reporters asked cardinals in a press conference about Leo’s election about Trump. 

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“The Church is so much bigger than politics,” he said, adding that most of the millions of Catholics in the U.S. aren’t worried about whether the pope is liberal or conservative. 

He continued, “There are a lot of views the Catholic leadership holds that are, you know, you might consider on the right side of the spectrum. There are a lot of views they’re going to hold that might be more traditionally on the left side of the spectrum. And then there are a lot of views that don’t map easily onto politics at all.”

Vance said that although the church touches on public policy from time to time, “that’s not really what it’s about.”

“I think it would be better for all of us if we allowed the Church to be about the saving of souls and didn’t try to fit it into a pre-ordained political box,” he concluded.

Pope Leo XIV was elected to succeed Pope Francis on Thursday after the former’s death last month after a health battle. 

President Trump quickly congratulated Leo on his selection on Thursday. 

“It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope,” he wrote in Truth Social Post. “What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”

However, other conservatives like Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist in Trump’s first administration and a Catholic, called Leo the “worst pick ever.” 

Pro-Trump conservative commentator Joey Mannarino took to X to charge that “the new Pope has recently attacked JD Vance, shown solidarity with Kilmar Abrego-Garcia and begged Trump to open the borders like Biden had them. This guy is worse than Francis.”

Conservative radio host Charlie Kirk said in a video on X, “Let’s just say, not so great tweets about having some willingness for open borders. We’ll see kind of how he is on that. Also some George Floyd stuff that I’m not too crazy about.”

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Kirk added that “overall, it seems like he’s a pro-life warrior. There’s a lot yet to learn about this pope, but I hope that he will be a strong advocate for strong borders. And for sovereignty.”