Pope Leo’s recent closed-door meeting with a Democratic strategist, David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, has sparked speculation that he may be considering a presidential run.
Some supporters of President Donald Trump are waging a war against Pope Leo after he criticized the Trump administration. Pope Leo criticized the United States’ role in the conflict with Iran during Palm Sunday remarks.
“Jesus is the King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” he began. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war but rejects them.”
When asked about the pope’s comments, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to directly address the criticism.
“Our nation was a nation founded 250 years ago, almost, on Judeo-Christian values,” the Press Secretary said. “And we’ve seen presidents, we’ve seen the leaders of the Department of War, and we’ve seen our troops go to prayer, during the most turbulent times in our nation’s history.”
🚨 WOW! President Trump just went OFF on Pope Leo
“I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!”
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and… pic.twitter.com/ch9bIfVjqQ
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 13, 2026
Leavitt further stated that she believed that there is nothing wrong with “military leaders or with the president calling on the American people to pray for service members.” “I think it’s a very noble thing to do,” Leavitt said. While Leavitt’s criticism of Pope Leo was subtle, Donald Trump took a more blatant approach. Earlier this week, Trump shared an AI-generated image on social media that appeared to depict him as Jesus Christ.
He later said the image was intended to portray him as a doctor. Since then, the internet has been divided on the matter. While the MAGA crowd continues to slam Pope Leo, others are celebrating his stance against Donald Trump.
According to the Irish Star, the Pope met with David Axelrod, a Democratic strategist and former senior advisor to former President Barack Obama. This has led many to believe that the Pope might run for President in 2028.
The US Constitution does not explicitly prohibit clergy from running for president. According to the U.S. Constitution, a person running for president must be “a natural-born citizen of the United States, be at least 35 years old, and have been a resident of the United States for 14 years.” Pope Leo was born in Chicago. Eligibility would depend on meeting constitutional requirements, including citizenship, age, and residency.
That said, while the law allows the Pope to run for president, the church doesn’t. Father Francis X. Clooney, who is a professor of divinity and comparative theology at the Harvard Divinity School, spoke on the matter in a conversation with USA Today. “The idea that clerics, people who are ordained, priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes, are pretty much told to stay out of politics,” Clooney said. “But, if there are issues for the good of the community, a priest or bishop can speak out, but it’s not likely they would run for any public office.”
“I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”
President Trump rips into Pope Leo for being “very liberal” and accusing him of catering to the left after speaking out against the war in Iran.
But the pope isn’t backing down, telling reporters his push for peace comes from the Gospel, not… pic.twitter.com/6ZSIp6Guj9
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 13, 2026
Clooney stated that he “wouldn’t read too much into the meeting.” Another expert, the chair of the politics department at The Catholic University of America, said that the Pope’s role is “much larger than [the president’s].” “He’s the leader of 1.3 billion Catholics in 193 countries, a much larger constituency than a president has to contend with,” the expert revealed. “He’s a person for everybody, and the concerns for human life and dignity. Those are values that go across political, religious, and cultural lines.”
