Donald Trump has responded to Pope Francis claiming that Trump is “not a Christian.”
Trump posted a message to his official Facebook page shortly after the news broke. The Republican presidential candidate said, “If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President because this would not have happened.”
Trump went on to claim that the Mexican government is manipulating the Pope by only telling him their side of the story. Trump claims that if the Pope knew about the crime associated with illegal immigration, he would not have made those comments.
“For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful,” Trump said of the Pontiff. ” I am proud to be a Christian and as President I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened, unlike what is happening now, with our current President.”
Pope Francis made the comments in response to a reporter’s question during a news conference from the papal airliner, which was returning to Rome after a six-day trip to Mexico.
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” Pope Francis said Thursday, according to the Associated Press. “This is not in the Gospel.” The Pope was referring to Trump’s plan to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
The religious leader said he hasn’t heard the specifics of Trump’s border plans, so he would “give him the benefit of the doubt,” but added, “I’d just say that this man is not Christian if he said it this way.”
Read Trump’s full statement below.
In response to the Pope:
If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President because this would not have happened. ISIS would have been eradicated unlike what is happening now with our all talk, no action politicians.
The Mexican government and its leadership has made many disparaging remarks about me to the Pope, because they want to continue to rip off the United States, both on trade and at the border, and they understand I am totally wise to them. The Pope only heard one side of the story – he didn’t see the crime, the drug trafficking and the negative economic impact the current policies have on the United States. He doesn’t see how Mexican leadership is outsmarting President Obama and our leadership in every aspect of negotiation.
For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful. I am proud to be a Christian and as President I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened, unlike what is happening now, with our current President. No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man’s religion or faith. They are using the Pope as a pawn and they should be ashamed of themselves for doing so, especially when so many lives are involved and when illegal immigration is so rampant.
Donald J. Trump