‘Walk Away’: House Republican Calls on Trump to ‘Mend’ Relations With Pope Leo

Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) called on President Donald Trump to “mend” relations with Pope Leo XIV and “walk away” from his ongoing feud with the pontiff, admitting that “as a Catholic” the ongoing spat “hurts.”

The remarks came Tuesday, one day after Trump refused to retract his criticism of the pope after describing the pontiff as “WEAK” on crime and Iran. Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Monday, Trump insisted “there’s nothing to apologize for” and maintained that the pope was “wrong.”

Trump had attacked the pope’s views in a Truth Social screed Sunday as “terrible” on foreign policy, taking credit for his selection by the Vatican, and urging him to use “Common Sense” instead of “catering to the Radical Left” – a post that came after Pope Leo condemned Trump’s threat to destroy a “whole civilization” in Iran as “truly unacceptable.”

In an interview with CNN’s The Situation Room on Tuesday morning, anchor Wolff Blitzer asked the Republican lawmaker about Trump’s comments.

“Well, you know, I’m Catholic so it hurts because I can think of a lot of people that might be close to Jesus and I don’t think President Trump is one of them,” Zinke began.

He continued: “But I think his holiness should focus on the Trinity, and the president should focus on national security and issues of policy. But there’s a line there. So I’m hoping it mends because it’s important to mend not only as a Catholic, as a Christian, but as a nation. I think to have a battle between his holiness and the president of the United States, I think it’s unhealthy and, quite frankly, I think it was an errant pitch.”

When Blitzer pressed Zinke on Trump’s meme that appeared to depict himself as Jesus Christ, the Republican credited the president for removing the post, which had earned him backlash from supporters.

Rounding again on the feud with the pope, the lawmaker added: “I think the president should focus on national security and policy and leave this debate, back and forth, alone and walk away.”

“And of course, you’re a Catholic, but isn’t it appropriate for Pope Leo, the first American pope, to speak about his desire for peace as opposed to war?” the anchor followed.

“Absolutely,” Zinke agreed. “Because, you know, what would Jesus do? Jesus wasn’t a warmonger, obviously. And I think peace and dialogue is what we should all pursue.”

He added that the late Pope Francis would talk about “science and climate change.”

“But again, I think as a leader of the Catholic Church, there’s a lot of issues within the Catholic Church. So focus on the Trinity and bringing humanity up,” he continued, before adding: “But, then again, his holiness, you have to believe that it was divine selection and he represents the millions and millions of Catholics that looked for him as the moral guide.”

Watch above via CNN.

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