After alienating Latinos and Muslim immigrants with his fierce remarks during a presidential campaign trail, Republican front-runner Donald Trump now risks losing support of Catholic Americans who revere Pope Francis, and in his latest comments the GOP candidate is trying to de-escalate the fight with the Pontiff.
“I don’t like fighting with the Pope,” the billionaire businessman said Thursday in a CNN-hosted town hall in South Carolina. “I like his personality; I like what he represents,” Trump added in an apparently damage-control move, and even called the Pope a “wonderful guy.”
“I think he said something much softer than was originally reported by the media,” Trump said, hold the media responsible for the fight, and blaming the Mexicans for paining a one-sided picture to the Pontiff during a visit to their country.
This appeared to be the first time Trump was walking back from a fight in his campaign that has seen scathing attacks on his opponents, and stark positions on issues.
But Trump stuck to his guns on the question of building a wall to thwart illegal immigration from the Mexican side.
On his way back to Vatican from a trip to Mexico, the Pontiff suggested that billionaire real-estate tycoon was “not a Christian”, when asked about his opinion on Trump’s statements on illegal immigrants.
Trump has pledged to build a wall along the United States’ southern border with Mexico to stop illegal immigrants. He has also vowed to send packing 11 million undocumented immigrants if elected president.
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the Gospel.” said Pope Francis who is an avowed supporter of immigrants and a big proponent of inter-faith harmony.
His remarks drew an instant reaction from Trump who termed Pope’s remarks as “disgraceful” saying that no leader, and especially a religious leader, should have a right to question other man’s religion and faith. “I am a very good Christian, and I am proud of it.”
The row between the Pope and Trump sparked a debate across the national media whether this will impact latter’s bid to the White House. Fox News asked its readers to tell on FB if spat with the Pope hurts Trump’s campaign.
The Pontiff chose to stay away when asked if American Catholics should vote for Trump. “As far as what you said about whether I would advise to vote or not to vote, I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that.”
Trump’s verbal volleys against Mexican immigrants – he called them “really bad” –, which he made during his presidential campaign announcement and repeated many times later, provoked a strong protest in Mexico. A Spanish language TV network, Univision, dropped its partnership with the Miss Universe Organization in which Trump co-owns the rights.
In December, Trump stirred up a new controversy by calling for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”. He had earlier demanded surveillance against mosques and establishing a database for all Muslims living in the United States.
While his anti-Muslim remarks were greeted with criticism from President Obama and several world leaders, it gained currency among his supporters and caused a wave of Islamophobia across the country with reported vandalization of some mosques and threats to Islamic schools.
The Pontiff controversy, this time not of Trump’s making, is unlikely to make much dent into his rating in the GOP South Carolina primary being held on Saturday, where evangelical Christians far outweigh their Catholics counterparts. The latest Fox News poll put Trump in a command lead with 32 percent, 13 points ahead of his closest rival Ted Cruz.
But, it may be a cause of worry from Trump in a wider context. In a September CNN Poll, Pope Francis has 74 % favorable opinion among American Catholics and 63 percent among all Americans. As much as 56% of Republicans had a favorable view of Pope Francis as compared to 21 percent with an unfavorable one. A Gallup opinion report on Jan. 30 noted that taking two-week average through Jan. 27, 60% of Americans view Trump unfavorably.
A January Pew survey found that roughly two-thirds of Republicans say it is important for a president to share their religious beliefs. Trump was seen by many in GOP as not being a very religious person compared with other leading candidates. Based on Republicans and those who lean toward the Republican Party, 49 percent of Catholics said he is not too or not at all religious.
Another Pew survey in January also confirmed that “being an atheist continues to be one of the biggest perceived shortcomings a hypothetical presidential candidate could have, with 51% of adults saying they would be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate who does not believe in God”.
It remains to be seen how Trump’s latest spat impacts his standing in the election campaign, and how conservatives react to his reaction to Pope Francis’ criticism.
