Vice President JD Vance's most recent jab at the pope backfired as onlookers shot back at him.
During an appearance on Fox News, Vance questioned decisions by the American Pope Leo, who has emerged as a vocal advocate for immigrants and directly challenged the Trump administration's sweeping immigration crackdowns.
"I don't see Pope Leo as an anti-capitalist. I do think some of the things that have come out of the Vatican on the immigration issue, in particular, have been troubling," Vance said. "What I would hope the Catholic leadership has learned from some of the things that me and Marco [Rubio] and the president have said about immigration is, it's not just about the dignity of the immigrant, it's about the dignity of the native born."
Vance has criticized Pope Leo's comments about immigration before, but this time, online critics were ready to respond and share their unhappiness with Vance's comments.
"You have to have some deep, unregistered pretentiousness to try to dunk on the pope," wrote political commentator Juan Escalante on Bluesky.
"Come on, Pope Leo," pleaded journalist Thor Benson. "Excommunicate him. Do it for me."
"I hope the scholars at the large hadron collider have learned from my many assorted thoughts on particles," joked political scientist Anjali Dayal, summing up Vance's argument.
"More Catholic than the Pope, eh?" asked progressive political commentator Wajahat Ali.
Journalist Patrick A. Reed wrote that Vance gave off the "same energy as all those dudes who think they could win a point against Serena," referring to tennis champ Serena Williams.
You have to have some deep, unregistered pretentiousness to try to dunk on the pope
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— Juan Escalante (@juanescalante.com) June 30, 2026 at 6:05 PM