Key To 2024 Coalition, Catholics Are Increasingly Skeptical Of Trump
American Catholics have become increasingly skeptical of President Donald Trump after he played a key role in his re-election, according to the latest poll of religious Republicans.
A survey by the Democracy Institute found that 57% of Catholics thought Trump’s now-deleted social media post describing him as Jesus was “false,” while 36% said he was right to criticize Pope Leo XIV. A majority of Catholics, 70%, also do not believe Trump’s claim that he thought the now-deleted image depicted him as a Red Cross doctor.
Trump posted an AI-generated image on social media that appeared to depict him as Jesus Christ healing the sick. He deleted the post after receiving widespread criticism from Christians, and later claimed he thought he was being portrayed as a Red Cross doctor.
(Democracy Institute/Daily Caller News Foundation)
These numbers mark a major shift from 2024 election polls, when 22% of those who voted for Trump were Catholic, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Trump also held an 18-point lead among Catholics in early exit polls conducted by The Washington Post in November 2024.
In his battle with Pope Leo, Trump accused the pontiff of being “weak” on foreign policy and crime in an April 12 Truth Social article. The pope condemned the war in Iran, calling it an “unacceptable” conflict fueled by an “illusion of omnipotence.” He also denounced Trump’s April 7 warning that “an entire civilization” in Iran would be destroyed if the Iranian regime did not reach an agreement to end the conflict. (RELATED: Pope Leo XIV extends calls for peace to perceived war of words with Trump, rejecting media narrative of rift)
“Today, as we all know, there was this threat against all the Iranian people. It’s really unacceptable,” Leo told reporters in Italian.
(Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP via Getty Images)
Patrick Basham, founding director of the Democracy Institute, told the Mirror that most Christians viewed Trump’s portrayal of Jesus as “blasphemous” and sinful, making it difficult to forgive.
“A cynic might conclude that over the past few months, Trump has made it his mission to antagonize as many groups as possible within his domestic coalition,” Basham said. “His message about Jesus managed to offend both a clear majority of evangelical Republicans – Trump’s most loyal religious voters – and a clear majority of Catholic Republicans – the influential voters who helped propel him to the top in the last election.
“Many evangelicals and Catholics not only found Trump’s post offensive; they even found it blasphemous. Many of them may have difficulty forgiving Trump’s sin on social media,” Basham continued.
A minority of Catholics, 45 percent, expressed hope that the war in Iran would end in the next 14 days, according to a Democracy Institute survey. Trump has repeatedly asserted that the war would last only two to three weeks, even though his administration has failed to reach a deal with Iran.
Pope Leo told reporters on April 18 that he had no interest in talking with Trump and would continue to call for peace. Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, thanked the pope for his words and acknowledged differences of opinion between the Vatican and the administration.
“I’m grateful to Pope Leo for saying this. While the media narrative constantly stirs up conflict — and yes, real disagreements have happened and will happen — the reality is often much more complicated,” Vance said. “Pope Leo is preaching the Gospel, as he should, and that will inevitably mean giving his opinions on the moral issues of the day. The president – and the entire administration – are striving to apply these moral principles in a world in disorder. He will be in our prayers, and I hope we will be in his.”
Vance likely helped Trump win over Catholics since he was the only Catholic on the presidential ticket.
The pope also criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, calling them “extremely disrespectful” and advocating for humane treatment of illegal aliens. Border czar Tom Homan invited the pope to join an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) walk-through in response to his criticism of the administration’s deportation policies.
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