Trump's People Criticizing the Pope is the New Politics

 


A Trump administrative official, who claims to be a devout Catholic, is returning fire to the Pope in what seems like an unprecedented style. Disagreeing with a Pope is not unusual but telling a Pope to run his own show and keep out of running the U.S. government is different.

Readers know a large swath of Protestantism is also in the cross hairs of the Trump Administration. Some Protestant groups are suing over the immigration policy as well as LGBT+ issues and foreign and domestic aid cuts. One author says Trump is waging war on Christianity.

Certainly, Trump and his circle have no use for criticism from religious groups. While the old political strategy of both Republicans and Democrats has been to pander to Christianity in every way possible, the new thing is to divide Christians into their various camps and harvest as many votes as possible. Biden turned his back on anti-abortion politics. Ultimately, I think Trump will do the same. He has never answered the question asked of him, "Have you ever paid for an abortion?"

Religious operatives have felt they are safe in trenches and are wearing armor. They call up politicians and say, "Endorse what we want (anti gay, trans.. abortion) and we will endorse you." What they are not equipped to handle is attacks on themselves. They are a big and attractive target. They of full of themselves and have defended plenty of sex affairs by preachers/priests. Right now the problems of the Catholic Church are well known. When the Pope says, "Run the country better" he is inviting public criticism the Catholic Church does not like.

I agree with Pope that illegal immigrants can be treated in some way other than shipping them out of the country. Lots of businesses depend on them. They are not an economic liability, they are an economic asset. Biden had influx down to a manageable number. Trump sees opportunity in demonizing them.  

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