Amid that decline, Williams argued that there has been "a surprise political player" contributing to Trump's lame-duck downfall: "Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV."
Fox News analyst says
Pope has exposed Trump as 'flailing lame-duck'
Story by Thomas
Kika
President Donald
Trump is firmly in decline as a "flailing lame-duck," and according to one Fox News
analyst, his high-profile feud with Pope Leo XIV has contributed
significantly to his loss of support from all but his most devoted base.
Juan Williams is a
longtime political analyst for Fox News, serving as one of the highly
conservative network's few Democratic voices, and one who is not shy about
speaking out critically against Trump. In a Monday morning piece for The Hill,
Williams wrote that Trump is "sinking deep into disapproval with voters
outside his far-right base," with his numbers sinking into "negative
territory on the war in Iran, on the economy, and on immigration."
Amid that decline,
Williams argued that there has been "a surprise political player"
contributing to Trump's lame-duck downfall: "Chicago-born Pope Leo
XIV."
"With the
midterms approaching, the first American pope’s defiant opposition to Trump is
coming into view as contributing to Trump’s status as a flailing lame-duck," Williams
wrote. "Pope Leo is clear in saying Trump is out of step with
Christianity’s core teachings: concern for the poor, skepticism of the rich,
embrace of the refugees, and love for thy neighbor. These teachings are
diametrically opposed to Trump starting war with Iran."
Williams further
highlighted an April social media post from the Pope's official X account: “God
does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of
Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop
bombs.”
Despite initially
attempting to celebrate and take credit for the first-ever American Pope, Trump
has since been engaged in a bitter and often one-sided feud with the Catholic
leader, taking personal offense to his remarks calling for immigrants to be treated
with dignity and opposing war. In response, the Pope has continued to issue
statements construed as direct attacks against Trump's rhetoric, while mostly
avoiding ever directly referring to the president.
"While Trump
slides in the polls, the pope has climbed to be the most popular leader among
Americans with a 57 percent favorability, according to Gallup," Williams
added.
"The
Economist-YouGov polling has the pope with a net favorability of plus 32 while
Trump has a rating of negative 22. Most Catholics, regardless of religious
observance or demographic group, view Pope Leo favorably. That includes
Catholics who regularly attend Mass and those who seldom or never do, according to Pew."
He contined:
"When asked about Trump’s approach to Pope Leo in a June survey by the Pew
Research Center, far more Catholics say Trump has been too critical of Leo (51 percent)
than say he hasn’t been critical enough (4 percent). Trump’s response to the
pontiff is to share offensive memes on social media suggesting he should be
pope. He also falsely claimed that Pope Leo wants Iran to have a nuclear
weapon. That’s not true, Mr. President."
Williams concluded
with an argument that, in a political age "focused on the high cost of
daily life, the rising power of super-rich autocrats and the dominance of
artificial intelligence," voters in the U.S. are beginning to yearn for
"the pope’s old-school Catholic teachings," as opposed to Trump's way
of doing things.
"That hunger is
far greater than support for Trump’s new wing on the White House, his bumbling
renovation of the reflecting pool or building a golden archway entrance to
Washington," he wrote. "Trump seems to have met his judgment day courtesy
of the Chicago kid who became pope."
Fox News analyst says Pope has exposed Trump as
'flailing lame-duck'
No comments:
Post a Comment