Furious Pope Checkmates Trump as Tables Are Turned!!!

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1:30Ben Meiselas:Furious Pope Leo XIV just dropped the mic on Donald Trump and Trump's despicable regime of war criminals aboard the Pope's plane. Pope Leo XIV is doing a trip across Africa. He recently visited Cameroon. He's now in Angola. And when he was asked questions by the press about Donald Trump and the MAGA movement and the Trump cabinet and all the Fox propagandists who continue to attack him, Pope Leo XIV is like, I just find it a bit unusual that all I was doing was talking about love and that war is bad and that war criminals are bad. And it's just fascinating that Donald Trump and J.D. Vance and Pete Hegseth took it so personally when I just spoke out about genocide and about murderers.

2:19Ben Meiselas:And they were like, don't you dare talk about me. Pope Leo XIV was like, I wasn't trying to get into a debate with them. I was just talking about things I've been talking about my entire life. These values that should be aspired to, not what this what Trump is saying. But in any event, here's what Pope Leo XIV said. It was brilliant aboard the Pope's plane. Let's play this clip right here. There's been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects, but because of the political situation created when on the first day of the trip, the President of the United States made some comments about myself.

3:00Much of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said. Just one little example. The talk that I gave at the prayer meeting for peace a couple days ago was prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting. And yet, as it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate again the president, which is not my interest at all.

3:36Ben Meiselas:You know, I find it notable as well that that clip was picked out by Fox because you had Sean Hannity and all the Fox propagandists attacking the Pope. And I think they all realize how bad it's been for Fox and for Donald Trump to attack the Pope, who's incredibly popular. You know, so J.D. Vance, who converted to Catholicism and J.D. Vance has been attacking the Pope all week, especially at that Turning Point event. J.D. Vance was like screaming and yelling at the Pope. It was very bizarre. J.D. Vance posted the following in response to the clip that I just showed you. I am grateful to Pope Leo for saying this.

4:16Ben Meiselas:While the media narrative constantly gins up conflict, and yes, real disagreements have happened and will happen, the reality is often much more complicated. Pope Leo preaches the gospel as he should, And that will inevitably mean he offers his opinion on the moral issues of the day. The president and the entire administration work to apply those moral principles in a messy world. He will be in our prayers. And I hope that we'll be in such a phony, genocidal war criminal. Weirdo you are, J.D. Vance. Weren't you in turning points recently? And you were just saying this past week, he doesn't know the just war doctrine.

4:58Ben Meiselas:I know the just war doctrine. God and Jesus want us to blow up hospitals in Manab in Iran and to kill little children and blow up hospitals. That's what God wants. I mean, I'm pretty confident we have a clip of you saying that you know the just war doctrine better than an Augustinian friar who literally has four degrees from the top Catholic university. But okay, JD, this is what JD said. Here play this clip. When the Pope says that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword, there is a thousand year, more than a thousand year tradition of just war theory. Okay. Now we can of course have disagreements about whether this or that conflict is just, but I think that it's important in the same way that it's important for the vice president United States to be careful.

5:49When I talk about matters of public policy, I think it's very, very important for the Pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology. And I think that one of these issues here is that there has been, again, hey, random dude screaming, I told you I'd respond to your point. I just want to respond to this question first. But I think one of the issues here is that if you're going to opine on matters of theology, you've got to be careful. You've got to make sure it's anchored in the truth. And that's one of the things that I try to do. And it's certainly something I would expect from the clergy, whether they're Catholic or Protestant.

6:22Ben Meiselas:And you all realize what happened this past week. A poll came out showing just how popular Pope Leo XIV is, frankly, across the world. By the way, amongst the Catholics, he's got like a 94 % approval about how he's doing as the Pope. But here in the United States, his approval is very, very high. I just want to make one point here. The Midas Touch Network is not a religious channel. People watch from all different religions. We have Christians. We have people who are Catholic. We have Muslims. We have Hindu, Jews. It goes across the whole spectrum. People who have no religion at all, right? The point that I want to make is that we should care about empathy and love and bringing people together.

7:06Ben Meiselas:And that, to me, is the most important thing, community, helping marginalized communities. But here was the poll that came out this week that had MAGA absolutely terrified play this clip. You know, maybe President Trump is jealous of Pope Leo XIV because it is a blowout. It is a blowout. And this is just the American public at large, John. Look at this. It is a blow on the net popularity rating. Pope Leo XIV at plus 34. Look at where Donald Trump is at minus 12. It's not even close. It's a nearly 50 point blowout amongst the American public at large. Pope Leo XIV, absolutely crushing President Trump when it comes to how popular they are, at least as of the last month.

7:48And I will note that Pope Leo was the most popular person tested by NBC News. I believe the president is making a humongous mistake going after the most popular guy in America, at least well-known guy. The question is, why is this man smiling here? How about among American Catholics? Yeah, that's right. There's a reason why the Pope is smiling there. How about among American Catholics? President Trump is struggling with American Catholics. Look at this. Maybe this is part of the reason why he's going after the Pope. U.S. Catholics on Trump. You know, you go back to November of 2024. Look at this.

8:17President Trump crushed, crushed Kamala Harris by 20 points. But down he goes, down he goes into the Dead Sea. Look at this. Minus four points. That's a nearly 25-point switcheroo in the wrong direction. The president has been struggling with Catholics. And I must say, in my expert opinion, I'm not quite sure that going after the pope is the way to recover with Catholics. And look, we were just listening to an interview with Kate Wright there. And the pope's stance on Iran is exactly what you would expect from a pontiff talking about war and peace here. What are Catholics in the United States?

8:52How do they feel about the military action? Yeah, I mean, I think Pope Leo XIV, an American, is emblematic of Catholics here in America. Just take a look here. Take a look. Net approval rating among U.S. Catholics. U.S. military action against Iran, minus 10 points, quite negative. You think that's low, though? Come over to this side of the screen. Trump on Iran. Look at this. They're even more sour on Trump. 20 points underwater. So the bottom line is this. The pope is emblematic of Catholics here in the United States. The pope is far more popular with the American public than Trump is here in the United States.

9:22And Trump has been struggling with Catholics here in the United States, very much so losing a lot of ground, as you see right here, at nearly 25 points were true. and this ain't going to help. Now, again, interesting to see how long he continues this, given what these numbers show. Harry, and thank you very much for being here.

9:42Ben Meiselas:And I do want to share with you some of the powerful moments of Pope Leo XIV when he was in Cameroon on his trip around Africa. Here's what Pope Leo XIV said about, and this is what Donald Trump took very personally. He named no American official. Here, play this clip right here. Woe to those who manipulate religion in the very name of God for their own military, economic, or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth. The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy. Yet often, a lifetime is often not enough to rebuild. They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing, on devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education, and restoration are nowhere to be found.

10:45The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters. They are the descendants of Abraham, as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore.

11:02Ben Meiselas:This wasn't a media narrative that was ginned up. OK, the media narrative was the Fox propagandists and the Trump and MAGA sycophants who ran to Donald Trump's side when Trump started attacking the pope. Donald Trump on eight separate occasions this week attacked the Pope in terms of interviews, social media posts. I mean, Donald Trump posted the following, Pope Leo is weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy. He talks about fear of the Trump administration, but doesn't mention fear of the Catholic Church. He never mentioned the Trump administration once, you psychopath, you malignant narcissistic war crime.

11:43Ben Meiselas:He didn't mention you once. Yet Donald Trump went on to say that the Pope is weak and he better get his act together. I'm not going to read Donald Trump's full social media post. So stop acting. This is like a thing that MAGA and right-wing people always do. They're like, the media ginned it up. You all ginned it up. This was a Trump attack Pope week with MAGA attack Pope week. It wasn't just Vance. I mean, you had MAGA Mike Johnson. He gave a speech attacking the Pope and MAGA Mike was like, I want to talk to you about the Just War Doctrine, because maybe the Pope doesn't know about the Just War Doctrine.

12:20Ben Meiselas:Yes, he does, okay? He was literally the leader of the movement that came up with the Just War Doctrine. But go ahead, Maga Mike, here, let's play this clip. A pontiff or any religious leader can say anything they want, but obviously if you wade into political waters, I think you should expect some political response, and I think the Pope's received some of that. You know, I was taken a little bit aback, just honestly, frankly, by something that was said. I think he said it several days back that something about those who engage in war, you know, that Jesus doesn't hear their prayers or something.

12:51You know, it is a very well-settled matter of Christian theology. There's something called the just war doctrine. There's a time to every purpose under heaven. I think what the president's comments, what the vice president's comments reflect is their understanding deep in the, you know, the SCIF and the classified briefings of the stakes that are so high in the situation that we're facing and the fact that you had the nation that was the largest sponsor of terrorism now having had that ability taken away from them. That means potentially millions of innocent people will be able to keep their lives and not be killed by terrorists.

13:28That's a good thing. That's what's come out of this. OK, so I don't I don't want to engage in a theological debate with the pope.

13:35Ben Meiselas:And then you had Hannity say the following. Play this clip. Change that law. But right on cue, Pope Leo, the 14th, is now seemingly more interested in spreading left wing politics and the actual teachings of Jesus Christ. as the AP put it, quote, Pope Leo amplified his condemnation of America's conflict with Iran, saying that God does not bless any conflict and certainly doesn't side with those who drop bombs. Well, first, that is simply not biblically accurate. The Bible contains over 400 references to war, frequently depicting God as authorizing, commanding, intervening in battles like one that we all know, the battle between David and Goliath.

14:20Why is the Pope twisting religion to specifically attack only President Trump and the U.S.? Why did he recently meet with top Obama advisor David Axelrod and the far-left governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker? Is it because he's a run-of-the-mill, trump-hating Democrat that lacks moral clarity about radical Islam? By the way, did he talk to about abortion. Well, in that case, you know, where are the pointed words for Iran, this evil regime, the number one state sponsor of terror?

14:52Ben Meiselas:So that's what was really going on. That's the media. That's the media ginning it up. And then we have some clips of Pope Leo the 14th in Cameroon. This is who Donald Trump says is a horrible person. Play this clip.

15:29Ben Meiselas:as christopher hale my friend who writes letters from leo by the way what a great sub stack letters from leo and it's been so awesome to have christopher hale on the show recently right Isn't he great? Here he says, Pope Leo XIV shows the heart of Christianity is in strength, but tenderness. Let's play this clip right here.

16:20Ben Meiselas:Now contrast that to Scott Jennings, the Trump sycophant who goes on CNN, who whatever Donald Trump says is gospel to him, pun intended. And now what MAGA is going with right after MAGA tries to use God and religion to engage in genocide and war crimes. They invoke God as they subjugate people. They manipulate God. They pervert the Bible. They pervert the people's religion. Again, let me be very clear. I don't care what religion you are. I just want you to be a good person. But we all know that the Trump perverts religion in order to manipulate and control. And now what MAGA is running with, I kid you not, after Donald Trump's attacks on the Pope backfired, is we're a secular country, okay?

17:06Ben Meiselas:I don't, why are we being all religious now? We're doing religion? We shouldn't be talking about religion at all. So why are we even talking about the Pope? I kid you not. This is what Scott Jennings, this MAGA sycophant had to say, play this clip. We're not a theocracy in the United States. Although our commanders in chief and military leaders often pray to God for success in battle. It's happened since George Washington melt in the snow at Valley Forge. We aren't a theocracy. We have separation of church and state. It may be that the American left is trying to, you know, turn us into a theocracy, which would be quite a development.

17:40But he's a president of the United States, which is a political office. The pope is a faith leader. Those are two different things. And they have had some disagreements, presidents and popes in the past. I mean, I think of Dwight Eisenhower's Order of the Day, B-Day, 1944. Let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking. I think every American believes that our invasion of France was a great and noble undertaking and that it was fully appropriate for Eisenhower to ask God to support our just and noble cause. The president believes that it is a righteous, noble, moral cause to keep these fanatics in Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

18:16And that is the decision he's made as a political officer of the United States. And I think if.

18:22Ben Meiselas:And, you know, while people like Jennings and Trump and Vance and Maga Mike and Hegseth and this whole Maga movement have such hate in their heart. You know, I just think of moments like this with Pope Leo. Maga's like, Pope Leo's the worst Pope of all time. And here's Pope Leo today, you know, treating people in Africa who are sick. Or here's Pope Leo XIV thoroughly enjoying this local choir during mass in Cameroon. Just watch him. I mean, this is just bringing people together. And again, I'm not viewing this from a religious prism, but this is bringing people together. Play this clip.

19:16Ben Meiselas:okay so contrast that to what other like the MAGA analysts the MAGA tv propagandas they're trying to one-up each other, right? So after you have Hannity going on his attack, you know, we showed you Hannity's attack, right? You then have David Harris on Newsmax going on his attack. This is what David Harris said. Here, play this clip. While President Trump is brokering ceasefires and pushing for peace in the Middle East, Pope Leo XIV is literally speaking blasphemy. Jesus told us, blessed are the peacemakers, but woe to those who manipulate religion in the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.

20:09Friends, that is not in the Bible. Where are the people out there, the Catholics, the believers, the Christians that were calling out President Donald J. Trump for posting a meme that they believed he was interpreting as himself being the Messiah? He didn't do that. But that right there, I don't care who they are. And if President Trump had said it, I'd be saying the exact same thing. Go look it up. Matthew chapter three, the Beatitudes. He that Jesus did not say everything that the Pope just said. He said after blessed are the peacemakers. All the rest of that crap is 110%. It's a thousand percent blasphemy.

20:44He just quoted and said that Jesus said something in the Bible that is not in there. Where's the outrage? Where's the outrage? Something is definitely off with that Pope. And I hope that every single person go read it for yourself. Matthew 3, 5, go read it for yourself. 5, 3, excuse me, go read it for yourself. And then ask, why would the Pope insert something to intentionally try to blast our president? That is 100 % blasphemy. It's wrong. It's evil is what it is. It's anti-Christ. It's anti-Bible. It's 100 % against what Jesus said and who he was. And that's a problem.

21:26Ben Meiselas:And then as Donald Trump realized just how this attack on Pope was backfiring, he calls in his evangelical bud, Franklin Graham, right? These total phonies, in my opinion, con artist individuals. principles. And so Donald Trump has Franklin, I kid you not, Donald Trump has Franklin Graham write him a letter, like I'm an evangelical preacher, write me a letter and say that I'm a good guy, Graham. And Franklin Graham writes this, Dear Mr. President, I have been out of the country and just returned. This is a statement I just released to the media addressing some of the issues you have been facing this week.

22:07Ben Meiselas:What do you mean the issue, always the victim, the issues you've been facing. What do you mean the issues? Donald Trump decided he was going to attack the Pope and then play the victim? What pathetic human beings they are. And then Franklin Graham goes, I do not believe President Trump would knowingly depict himself as Jesus Christ. That would certainly be inappropriate. I'm thankful the president has made it very clear that this was not at all what he thought the AI generated image was representing. He thought it was a doctor helping someone. And when he learned of the concerns, he immediately removed the post.

22:43Ben Meiselas:When I looked at the illustration, I didn't jump to the same conclusion as some. There were no spiritual references, no halo. There were no crosses, no angels. It was a flag, soldiers, a nurse, fighter planes, eagles. And I think this is a lot to do about nothing. There There is so much ill-intended speculation. I think his enemies are always foaming at the mouth at a possible opportunity to make him look bad. And the illustration from someone else he reposted on Truth Social today, I must say that I like the fact that it is a picture of Jesus whispering in his ear, or at least his hand on his shoulder, guiding him.

23:22Ben Meiselas:We all need that. We need to be listening to Jesus again. I think there is an attempt to spin this into something it isn't, right? And then Franklin Graham goes on TV. He goes on state regime media. And here's what he says. Let's play this clip. These people are dangerous people and they're danger to the world. And all of Gaza, that is the Iranians. You take what's happening in southern Lebanon, that's the Iranians. So, yes, I think President Trump has done the right thing. I hate war. I don't like war. Don't support war. but sometimes you have to fight evil and that's exactly what president trump is doing and it will be a much safer world much safer in the middle east when president trump gets this done what a movement of losers what a movement of war criminal hateful lose right they all act tough right they engage in the war crimes then you call them out for their behavior and they're like all the media is jitting it up.

24:20Ben Meiselas:Oh, the media narratives. Oh, it's so unfair. What they're doing to you, what they're doing to you. Dude's posting AI images of himself as Jesus. And he's posting rants all week, attacking Pope Leo the 14th and Pope Leo the 14th, not referencing Donald Trump, staying cool, calm and collected. And Trump is clearly jealous of the crowd sizes that Pope Leo the 14th is drawing and the moral and formal authority that Pope Leo the 14th has. Trump wish he had the respect of people the way Pope Leo XIV has, but it ain't going to happen, Donald. You're a loser. You're the least popular president in American history.