‘JD Vance is Wrong’: Here’s What The New Pope Has Tweeted About Trump and US Politics

AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino

Pope Leo XIV, who was known as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost just a few hours ago, was named the head of the Catholic Church on Thursday after being selected on the second day of the papal conclave held in the wake of Pope Francis’ passing. On his social media accounts, Leo XIV has criticized President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on issues including immigration and Catholic doctrine.

Born in Chicago, Leo XIV is the first American to be named the Bishop of Rome and has been praised in Catholic media for his language skills. Besides his native English, the 69-year-old new pope can speak Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese and can read Latin and German, allowing him to communicate with both cardinals and church members around the world.

He has also been communicating with an online audience. Leo XIV joined Twitter, now known as X, in 2011, and writes tweets in multiple languages but many in English. He seems to be a sporadic tweeter, posting or retweeting a handful of tweets in early 2023, two in July of that year, and none in 2024.

What is likely to get attention, however, is the then-cardinal’s tweets criticizing the Trump administration. His most recent tweet, on April 14, was a retweet of Catholic blogger Rocco Palmo that denounced the White House’s “illicit deportation of a US resident,” Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and quoted Bishop Evelio Menjivar: “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?”

Screenshot of retweet by @drprevost via X.

Other recent tweets from Leo XIV take issue with Vance’s comments about “ordo amoris,” a Catholic theological concept on the “order of charity.” In January, Vance argued in a Fox News interview that this should be interpreted as “you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world.” Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, doubled down in a tweet the next day.

Vance’s interpretation of ordo amoris drew a public rebuke from Leo XIV’s predecessor, Pope Francis, in a letter addressed to American bishops.

Then-Cardinal Prevost voiced his agreement with Francis, sharing an article discussing the pope’s letter and tweeting bluntly, “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”

Social media users found other past tweets by Leo XIV espousing views that would reasonably be interpreted as contrary to those of the Trump White House, including these screenshots shared by Yashar Ali which criticized actions by the president’s first administration to separate undocumented immigrant children from their parents, restrictions on accepting Syrian refugees, and so on.

“We need to hear more from leaders in the Church, to reject racism and seek justice,” wrote Leo XIV in May 2020. Another tweet he shared from Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) called out other senators in the wake of the October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, presumably for not supporting gun control reforms, writing their “cowardice to act cannot be whitewashed by thoughts and prayers.”

These tweets in 2017 shared Francis’ views on climate change and “the need for each of us to repent of the ways we have harmed the planet,” his opposition to the repeal of DACA, and a blog post criticizing Trump’s “bad hombres” comment as fueling “racism and nativism.”

Screenshot via X.

Screenshot via X.

In August 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Leo XIV retweeted an archbishop who called the vaccine “an act of love” and prayed for the vaccines to be “available for all, so that we can all get immunized.” During his second term, Trump has nominated several people to powerful positions who have expressed anti-vaccine views, most notably Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Screenshot of @drprevost retweet via X.

Other screenshots of Leo XIV’s past tweets include retweeting a bishop who posted a prayer for George Floyd and his family in May 2020 and criticized the first Trump administration for repealing DACA.

Leo XIV even criticized Trump during the 2016 campaign, sharing a July 2015 Washington Post op-ed by Cardinal Timothy Dolan that said the then-candidate’s “anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic.”

Another retweet in the aftermath of Trump’s 2016 election win shared an article addressing the “fears and broader tensions” in the archdiocese of Los Angeles and other major cities, sharing a video and transcript of a “deeply potent homily” delivered by Archbishop José Gomez, a Mexican-born immigrant.

Screenshot via X.

This article has been updated with additional information.