Fox’s Brian Kilmeade Takes Shots at Pope Francis on Morning of His Death Over ‘Reverence’ for Biden and ‘Church of Anthony Fauci’

Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade took a couple of subtle jabs at Pope Francis over his liberal friendships and progressive views as the show covered the news of his death on the day after Easter.

At two separate points while speaking with Fox & Friends weekend anchor Rachel Campos-Duffy on Monday, Kilmeade brought up the issue of abortion, adding that the late pontiff “seemed to have a lot of reverence for Joe Biden.”

“[Biden] was pro-abortion,” Kilmeade said. “He was actually almost campaigning for abortion at the end. That’s the one dichotomy, one of the many dichotomies with this pope I couldn’t quite figure out.”

Campos-Duffy responded: “I couldn’t square that either. But I will say this. Of all of his social teachings, the ones that Pope Francis never wavered on and spoke very strongly on was abortion. So he never changed his position on abortion. But, you’re right. The kind of deference and access he gave, to not just Joe Biden but Nancy Pelosi, somebody who wanted government-paid abortion.”

Later, when the topic of COVID-19 came up, Campos-Duffy lamented that “when so many of us were isolated in our homes, we wanted our church to say to open its doors. Instead, it follows the line of the WEF and closed the doors and not pastoring people during that time. That was a huge disappointment.”

Kilmeade added that under Pope Francis, the Vatican “pledged allegiance to the church of Anthony Fauci, sadly” before remarking that Campos-Duffy and her husband, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, were so busy that, “I’m going to have to raise your kids.”

Read the full exchange here:

BRIAN KILMEADE: Thanks so much, Lauren. Meanwhile, 13 minutes before the top of the hour. Let’s open this conversation up and bring in weekend co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. Rachel, your thoughts, one of the things this pope was supposed to do bring people back to the church by being open to more Progressive views. Did that work?

RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY: No, it didn’t. I think people — you are starting to see, by the way, a lot of conversion to Catholicism. But I would say it was spite of Pope Francis’ leadership of the Catholic Church not because of it. You are right. Listen, first of all, this is sad. This is sad for all Catholics. No matter what. He is the leader, as you guys have been pointing out all morning. Over a billion Catholics around the world. He is not just a man he’s somebody who represents all of us especially us as a Catholic community. All Christians. And also somebody who represents this long line of succession. The first pope as Catholics was Saint Peter himself. So there is a lot of symbolism and the continuity of the church when the pope passes. It’s just a reminder, it never ends, right? The church continues. But, yes. This pope — look, he passed away yesterday. I looked at Charlie yesterday when we were sitting on the couch and I said he doesn’t have much time left, which was why I was surprised so many people you brought on have said, ‘I was surprised, he looked so well.’ I saw him yesterday, I’m like, ‘he doesn’t look very good.’ I didn’t think it would happen this soon, but I knew it was imminent. And very soon. Look, he has been controversial on a lot of levels. He is a Jesuit and all that means, the sort of liberal way of thinking. He focused a lot on social issues. He focused on the climate, he was about liberalizing the way Catholics look at divorce. He approved blessings on same-sex couples. And a lot of other Catholics were like, ‘I wish he was more focused on moral teachings. I wish he was more focused on the persecution of Christians,’ which has been horrific. Just in the last month, we saw 75 Christians beheaded in a church in Africa. There is a lot of controversy around him. But the church continues. Emily, I was interested in what you had to say about the possibility of a future or a coming African pope. That’s a real possibility. The African churches are where a lot of the Catholic energy is right now. A lot of energy in the African church. But as you also mentioned, over half of all the people who can vote, all the cardinals, who can vote have been appointed by this pope with the advice of so many of his other like-minded more liberal adviser, . And it will be interesting to see how that all turns out but focus on the next couple weeks will be on Rome and the preparations for the funeral and then, of course, the excitement and the intrigue around the conclave.

CHARLES HURT: You are one of those people who followed closely the cardinals that do get picked. How do you see all of that playing out going forward?

CAMPOS-DUFFY: They have been pretty liberal by almost all estimations. Jonathan Morris brought up a good point. Some of, you know, he has looked at diversifying and bringing in more cardinals from those parts of the world. Africa and Asia. A lot of those are just more traditional. As he said, they’re not political in the way we think of politics here in the United States. They are just more traditional Catholics. And so, that might end up surprising people if somebody from the African church or Asian church who tend to be more traditional, conservative get elected. But, again, we just don’t know. Another interesting thing, you guys, just thinking about it, J.D. Vance a convert to Catholicism, was one of the last people to speak with him. He had that audience brought his family to holy week services. That’s a very interesting thing. You saw the kind of respect. Sure, J.D. Vance and the pope don’t agree on a lot of things. You saw that no matter what, there is that respect, that deference that understanding that Pope Francis regardless of opinion he represents something bigger than politics.

KILMEADE: He chose the Catholic church. He wasn’t born into it. And I think that means something. You know another thing that’s kind interesting in the big picture, the party that got rid of Roe v. Wade and Catholic church stands for anti-abortion in so many different respects. He seemed to have a lot of reverence for Joe Biden who gave him a special award at the end of his life. The guy that was pro-abortion. He was actually almost campaigning for abortion at the end. That’s the one dichotomy, one of the many dichotomies with this pope I couldn’t quite figure out.

CAMPOS-DUFFY: I couldn’t square that either. But I will say this. Of all of his social teachings, the ones that Pope Francis never wavered on and spoke very strongly on was abortion. So he never changed his position on abortion. But, you’re right. The kind of deference and access he gave, to not just Joe Biden but Nancy Pelosi, somebody who wanted government-paid abortion. Abortion without restrictions, all of that. That’s always been very confusing to us conservative Catholics, conservative American Catholics. Look, a lot of conservative Catholics, did not appreciate this pope. Let’s just be really frank and honest here on Fox & Friends. They did not appreciate him. But they always respected the office of the pope. The fact that he is, you know, in this long, unbroken chain all the way up to Saint Peter himself. And of course, the church continues.

EMILY COMPAGNO: What did it mean to have this pope be the first from South America to be the first from the Western Hemisphere?

CAMPOS-DUFFY: I know it meant a lot to South Americans. It was a point of great pride for South Americans and especially people from Argentina.

CAMPOS-DUFFY: Absolutely. That was a big deal and he made several, you know, important visits to our hemisphere, both here in the United States and in South America and Central America. Again, the church is at a crossroads. It’s at a point where, you know, we’re seeing so many people, especially during COVID you guys, what is one of the parts that for me was really the most disappointing with Pope Francis. During COVID, when so many of us were isolated in our homes, we wanted our church to say to open its doors. Instead, it follows the line of the WEF and closed the doors and not pastoring people during that time. That was a huge disappointment.

KILMEADE: They pledged allegiance to the church of Anthony Fauci, sadly. It’s a busy time to be a Duffy. With all your expertise and Sean’s expertise. Man, it’s hard. I’m going to have to raise your kids.

CAMPOS-DUFFY: He is with them at home right now.

KILMEADE: Thanks Rachel.

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