Political Wire

SubscribeSign in
  • Front Page
  • Trending
  • Polling
  • Trial Balloon
  • Books
  • Membership
  • Sign In
Theme
Text size

Trump Tests Limits of His Most Faithful Supporters

April 28, 2026 · 1:13 pm ET · Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Over the past decade, many white evangelicals have overlooked Mr. Trump’s complicated relationship with religion in favor of achieving political goals ranging from restricting access to abortion to hanging copies of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.”

“They are less likely than other religious groups to see a problem with the Trump administration’s handling of files related to the investigation of the convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, the fallout from which has clouded Mr. Trump’s second term. And they have largely embraced the religious framing that administration officials have used to justify the war in Iran.”

“But Mr. Trump’s latest rhetoric, particularly on matters of faith as the war continues, has, according to polls and religious leaders, threatened to splinter a powerful coalition of religious voters who returned him to the White House, a group that includes white and Latino Catholics as well as Latino evangelicals, all of whom swung Mr. Trump’s way in 2024.”

Religion, White House

Latino Catholics Offended by Trump

April 24, 2026 · 6:50 am ET · Leave a Comment

New York Times: “The Republican Party is struggling to hold onto the support from Hispanic voters who helped propel Mr. Trump back into the White House in 2024. Yet as many party leaders have acknowledged the urgent need to stop the backsliding among Latinos, the president has enraged many of even his strongest supporters by clashing with the pope.”

Religion

Trump’s New Navy Secretary Once Warned of ‘Witchcraft’

April 24, 2026 · 6:03 am ET · Leave a Comment

President Trump’s new acting Navy secretary, Hung Cao, warned in 2023 that “witchcraft” had “taken over” the Californian city of Monterey and was threatening Christianity, Mediaite reports.

Religion

Pence Says Trump’s Jesus Imagery Was ‘Offensive’

April 23, 2026 · 8:31 am ET · Leave a Comment

Former Vice President Mike Pence told MS NOW that he “found the language and images” President Trump has used in recent weeks to depict himself as a Jesus-like figure “offensive,” and called on the president to ease his public feud with the pope.

Said Pence: “I think the Pope has every right to express himself in a manner that he believes is consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the president has every right to express his view and his agenda for the American people.”

He added: “If I was advising him — as I did every day for four and a half years — I’d say: Let the pope be the pope, and you be the president.”

Religion, White House

Court Allows Ten Commandments in Texas Classrooms

April 21, 2026 · 8:13 pm ET · Leave a Comment

“An appellate court ruled Tuesday that Texas may require that public school classrooms display the Ten Commandments, a significant win for the conservative campaign to break down the legal walls between church and state and inject more religion into the public square,” the Washington Post reports. 

“The ruling came from the conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The case is widely expected to head next to the Supreme Court, where the conservative majority has been steadily removing restrictions on government support for religion.”

Education, Religion

The Pope’s English Fuels a Trump Feud

April 20, 2026 · 7:15 am ET · Leave a Comment

“Escalating tensions between Pope Leo XIV and President Trump may hinge on something unusually simple: the pope doesn’t need a translator,” Axios reports.

“Leo’s native-level English removes a long-standing Vatican buffer — ambiguity in translation — that has historically softened or clarified papal critiques of U.S. leaders.”

“Without that layer, Leo’s comments land more directly in the American media ecosystem and to American Catholics, amplifying political impact and backlash.”

Religion

Trump Will Participate in a Marathon Bible Reading

April 18, 2026 · 7:18 am ET · Leave a Comment

“President Trump has a complicated relationship with the Bible. He has often called it his favorite book, has posed with it for photographers outside a church and has sold his own edition for $60. But he has also struggled to name a favorite passage or even pick a favorite Testament between the two,” the New York Times reports.

“Now, fresh from a week in which he skirmished with the pope and Christians accused him of blasphemy, Mr. Trump will participate in a marathon reading of the entire Bible in Washington, the event’s organizers announced Friday.”

Politico: Trump to release reading of scripture days after angering many Christians.

Religion, White House

Franklin Graham Defends Trump Over Jesus Image

April 16, 2026 · 11:48 am ET · Leave a Comment

“Franklin Graham, one of the nation’s most prominent Christian evangelists and a booster of President Donald Trump, said he does not believe the president knowingly depicted himself as Jesus in a now-deleted post on social media, dismissing the backlash as overblown,” Politico reports.

Said Graham: “When I looked at the illustration, I didn’t jump to the same conclusion as some. There were no spiritual references — no halo, there were no crosses, no angels. It was a flag, soldiers, a nurse, fighter planes, eagles, the Statue of Liberty, and I think this is a lot to do about nothing.”

Religion

Pete Hegseth Quoted Fake Bible Passage

April 16, 2026 · 10:55 am ET · Leave a Comment

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth read a fake Bible quote from the 1994 movie Pulp Fiction during a prayer service at the Pentagon, Mediaite reports.

Religion

Quote of the Day

April 16, 2026 · 10:52 am ET · Leave a Comment

“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.”

— Pope Leo XIV, on X.

Religion

Pope John David Vance the First

April 16, 2026 · 10:42 am ET · Leave a Comment

Tom Nichols: “Trump might have moved on, and Vance, a relatively recent convert to Catholicism, would have been able to stay out of a dustup between his president and his spiritual leader. But no. Vance just had to speak up. He could have taken his cues from John F. Kennedy or Mario Cuomo, Catholic politicians who were careful to note that their faith was personal and important to them, but that in their public life, they must govern as Americans according to the Constitution.”

“Vance decided on a different approach: The pope, he implied, wasn’t a very good, or very smart, Catholic.”

Religion

A Sharp Rise in Young Men’s Religiosity

April 16, 2026 · 8:52 am ET · Leave a Comment

A new Gallup poll finds 42% of young men saying religion is very important to them, up sharply from 28% in 2022-2023.

By contrast, during this period, young women’s attachment to religion has held steady at about 30%.

Religion, Trends

Thom Tillis Says Trump Should Apologize to Pope Leo

April 16, 2026 · 8:44 am ET · Leave a Comment

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said President Trump should apologize to Pope Leo XIV following their public spat over the U.S.-Israeli conflict in Iran, adding that “when you’re wrong, you’re wrong,” NewsNation reports.

Religion

Trump Tests the Loyalty of Christian Supporters

April 16, 2026 · 5:31 am ET · Leave a Comment

Karen Tumulty: “The willingness of his supporters on the Christian right to shrug off the apostasies and antics of President Donald Trump has been put to new tests, as his behavior has become even more erratic.”

“Trump has claimed God’s backing for foreign adventurism as he has threatened to demolish one of the world’s oldest civilizations; written an Easter Sunday screed that included an f-bomb and a ‘praise be to Allah’ sign-off; tangled with a popular, American-born pope; and employed his social media platform to spread an image that appeared to depict him as Jesus.”

“Of the many unlikely turns in the Trump era, ranking high is the fervor with which religious conservatives have embraced an irreverent, thrice-married Manhattan real estate developer given to regular outbursts of vulgarity, lying and vindictiveness.”

NPR: Trump allies defend his remarks about Pope Leo.

Religion

Headline of the Day

April 15, 2026 · 11:43 am ET · Leave a Comment

“Vance Says the Pope Should Be More Careful When Talking About Theology”

— New York Times, April 15, 2026.

Religion

Trump Takes Aim at Pope Leo Again

April 15, 2026 · 7:27 am ET · Leave a Comment

President Trump took aim at Pope Leo XIV again, suggesting that he was unaware of Iran’s repressive actions against its own people and building on his criticism of the Catholic pontiff, CNBC reports.

Said Trump, in a late night Truth Social post: “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable.”

Religion, White House

Why Pope Leo Is Such a Challenging Opponent for Trump

April 15, 2026 · 5:55 am ET · Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “The growing disorder in world politics is an opportunity for the Catholic Church to repair its standing as a moral authority, which has suffered in recent decades from the long-running scandals over clerical sexual abuse, say some observers of the Vatican.”

“Leo is also considerably more popular in the U.S. than Trump, enjoying a 34 percentage point net-positive rating among registered voters, compared with a 12 percentage point net-negative rating for the president.”

Religion

Image Depicting Trump as Christ Sparked Big Backlash

April 14, 2026 · 10:29 am ET · Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “President Trump’s decision to post an AI-generated image depicting himself as a Christ-like figure sparked outrage on the religious right, triggering the most significant pushback from his Catholic and evangelical Christian supporters since he returned to the White House.”

Religion

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • …
  • 32
  • Next Page »
Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

More about Taegan Goddard →

Your Account

Members

For the full experience, sign in.

Become a Member

Read everything on Political Wire. No ads, Talking Points analysis, Trial Balloon podcast, new features and more.

  • Join Political Wire
  • Gift a Membership

Members Only

  • Trump Makes Himself the Closing Argument
  • How Republicans Made Safe Seats Competitive
  • Could Mississippi Deliver a November Surprise?
  • Weekly News Quiz
  • Republicans Could Face Another Leadership Civil War
  • Ramaswamy’s Self-Inflicted October Surprise

More members only posts →

?Political Trivia

  • The Way It Was →
  • Yea or Nay? →
  • Split Decision →
  • Pollster →
  • Daily Trivia →

Copyright © 2026 · Goddard Media LLC

Political Wire® is a registered trademark of Goddard Media LLC

Also from Goddard Media: Political Dictionary · Political Job Hunt · Electoral Vote Map

Privacy PolicyCorrections PolicyContact