Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) rebuked Vice President JD Vance’s recent comments about Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday, saying that Vance should stay focused on his governmental duties and leave the church alone.
Vance, a Catholic convert, made the head-turning comments during a Turning Point USA event in Georgia on Tuesday.
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“I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” Vance said, discussing the pope’s recent criticism of the war in Iran, which has also prompted several vitriolic responses from President Donald Trump.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) speaks during a news conference after a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Washington. via Associated Press
Speaking with Punchbowl News’s Andrew Desiderio on Wednesday, Thune poked at the vice president’s attempt to caution the leader of the Catholic Church about “matters of theology.”
“Isn’t that his job?” Thune said, referring to the pope.
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As for Vance, Thune added, “I’d stay focused on… the economic issues, pocketbook issues that most Americans care about. And let the church be the church.”
Trump began attacking the pope during a late-night posting spree on Sunday night, calling him “WEAK on crime.”
“I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise.”
Thune had previously criticized Trump’s attacks on the pope, saying on Monday, “I would leave the church alone.”
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