The View Co-Host Accuses the Trump Administration of Acting as ‘False Prophets’ Weaponizing Faith

The View waded into the debate over the Trump administration and religion on Thursday, with co-host Sara Haines accusing White House officials of acting as “false prophets.”

Whoopi Goldberg played clips of Vice President JD Vance admonishing Pope Leo XIV “to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth comparing today’s “Trump-hating press” to the Pharisees of the Bible.

“Did JD Vance just say the Pope needed to be careful when he spoke about theology?” Haines asked.

“They want him to talk about interior designing,” Joy Behar quipped.

“I think J.D. might want to be careful when speaking about the Pope,” Haines said, continuing:

One of the most egregious things as a person of faith is watching when religion is weaponized in a way that feels like cherry-picked and a bit of a bastardization of the very things so many of us try to live by and it informs our decisions.

I also think there’s so much hypocrisy when you speak of religion loudly but don’t walk the walk, which was the more important message of Jesus and the Gospel and the Bible. But I also don’t like when religion and politics merges. I like the separation of church and state for this reason. I happen to be a believer of the faith they’re speaking of, but this nation is so diverse and multifaceted that there’s danger whenever you do this — I don’t want to live in a theocracy. We’ve seen how that plays out in other places of the globe. I would prefer to keep them separate, especially from a group of people that are manipulating and guiding as false prophets.

Trump, who is backed by protestant evangelicals in the U.S., has been posting Jesus memes and engaging in a war of words with the pontiff.

On Thursday, the Pope hit back again, posting on X, “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”

Evangelical leader Franklin Graham came to Trump’s defense, writing, “I think his enemies are always foaming at the mouth at any possible opportunity to make him look bad.”

Watch the clip above via The View on ABC.

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