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While some of President Donald Trump’s biggest backers are praising the idea that he could be the next Pope, others are saying the chances are slim and that when Conclave starts his name won’t even come up.
Trump was asked by a reporter at the White House Tuesday who he would like to succeed Pope Francis.“I’d like to be Pope,” he quipped. “That would be my number one choice.”
That comment drew a quick reaction on social media and from experts.
Republican Senator, and on-and-off Trump ally, Lindsey Graham asked the Conclave to “keep an open mind” about electing Trump as the next pope. Graham said the president was “a dark horse candidate” after the death of Pope Francis.
“I was excited to hear that President Trump is open to the idea of being the next Pope,” Graham wrote in a post on X Tuesday accompanied by the clip of Trump. “This would truly be a dark horse candidate, but I would ask the papal conclave and Catholic faithful to keep an open mind about this possibility!”
“The first Pope-U.S. President combination has many upsides,” Graham added. “Watching for white smoke…. Trump MMXXVIII!”
However, other in the political world were quick to reject the idea.
“Lindsey – get a grip,” Meghan McCain wrote on X.
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Republicans Against Trump said Graham’s remarks were “hilarious” and then mocked the South Carolina senator by sharing a 2016 post where he said that the GOP “will be destroyed” if they nominate Trump for president.
“Lindsey Graham, then and now. Exhibit A in what Trump did to the Republican Party,” the group said in a post on X.
“Can we send a rescue party? I’ve never seen a person so far up someone’s ass,” Democrat and Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta said.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a historian who writes about fascism and authoritarianism, responded: “Authoritarian leader cult alert.”
Trump’s odds are unfavorable. According to canon law, any baptized Catholic male can be elected pope. Almost all popes in modern history have been members of the College of Cardinals. Cardinals “typically elect a pope known for deep faith, strong leadership and experience in Church governance,” according to Catholic.org.
After putting himself forward, Trump then name-dropped Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, as one potential pick. “I have no preference. I must say, we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who’s very good, so we’ll see what happens.”
But experts say Trump is unlikely to have any influence over the selection process, let alone become the next pope himself.
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“The College of Cardinals will not pay much attention—if any—to what he or any other head of state suggests,” Carlos Eire, a professor of history and religious studies at Yale University, told TIME. “The church is their main concern, and they tend to view the election from that perspective. World politics might concern them to some extent, but not the opinions of lay people, much less the opinions of lay people who aren’t Catholic.”
Miles Pattenden, a historian of the Catholic Church at Oxford University, told the outlet that it was “very doubtful” that any cardinals would view Trump’s endorsement of Dolan “favorably” and highlighted that the chances of electing an American pope were slim.
“The general opinion within the upper ranks of the Catholic Church over the past 50 years has also been that America is powerful enough anyway without the Americans also winning the papacy,” Pattenden said.
