Americans Think That Maybe These Two Shouldn’t Be Talking About God

‘Do So With the Truth’

It’s not just the evangelicals who were incensed and wringing their hands at President Trump’s blasphemy after he shared an AI-generated painting of himself healing the sick, depicted as Jesus Christ alongside a series of patriotic images and people praying to him.

A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll out today has found that the majority of Americans are extremely uncomfortable with Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth commenting on God, at least as it pertains to their most recent public sacrilege.

Eighty-seven percent of Americans overall indicated that they disliked Trump’s Truth Social post where he depicted himself as Jesus, and that includes 79 percent of Republicans surveyed. Sixty-nine percent of those who responded to the poll said they had a negative view of Hegseth’s Pentagon prayer, when he asked God for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy” — though that statement was less offensive to Republicans surveyed; 40 percent said they had negative feelings about it.

Pope Leo, with whom Trump has been feuding and with whom the president reignited his fight with yesterday, is on the opposite side of public opinion. Sixty-six percent of Americans said they had positive feelings about Leo’s recent call for Americans to contact their representatives in Congress to urge them toward peace and away from war. Leo’s remarks about Trump’s war in Iran, as well as his public statements about immigration, are part of what prompted Trump to lash out.

Trump poured more gasoline on the believed-to-be simmering tensions this week when he suggested on the Hugh Hewitt show that Leo was “endangering Catholics and a lot of people” and argued that the pope is “fine” with Iran having nuclear capabilities. Mind you, Trump said this on Tuesday, just before Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s planned trip to Rome — a voyage at least in part aimed at easing hostilities between the Vatican and the Trump administration.

Rubio tried to do some clean-up that day, saying he thinks “the president basically said is that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon because they would use it against places that have a lot of Catholics and Christians, and others for that matter.”

“Should anyone want to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, they should do so with the truth,” Leo told journalists in response to Trump’s remarks. “For years the Church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons, so there’s no doubt about it, there. So I simply hope to be listened to for the value of God’s word.”

And Trump’s attacks on the pope have, unsurprisingly, had an impact on white Catholic voters’ opinion of him. The WaPo et. al poll found that 49 percent of that demographic approves of Trump right now, compared to 63 percent who indicated they approved of him in February of last year. And among all Catholics, his approval rating is at 38 percent, according to the recent poll.

This Is an Insane Thing to Have to Formulate a Poll Question Around

Just as a side note, a microcosm of our moment:

FBI Investigating Atlantic Journalist’s Sources

The FBI is reportedly conducted an investigation related to the explosive Atlantic story last month that reported on FBI Director Kash Patel’s work ethic and reported drinking habits. Two people familiar with the matter told MS NOW that the FBI has launched a criminal leak probe focused on the Atlantic journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick.

Per MS NOW:

The sources said the so-called insider threat investigation is highly unusual because it did not stem from a disclosure of classified information and because it is focused on leaks to a reporter. The agents involved are part of an insider threats unit based in Huntsville, Alabama, the sources added.

Typically, leak investigations look into government officials who may have disclosed state secrets or classified documents. Journalists who receive and publish such information have typically only been involved as potential witnesses.

The FBI denied that such an investigation is taking place, for what it’s worth.

“This is completely false. No such investigation like this exists and the reporter you mention is not being investigated at all,” FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson told MS NOW. “Every time there’s a publication of false claims by anonymous sources that gets called out, the media plays the victim via investigations that do not exist.”

Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick has another scoop: Patel is, she writes, handing out personalized bottles of Woodford Reserve bourbon.

DOJ Eyes E. Jean Carroll

After a jury in 2024 found Trump liable for defamation for statements he made about writer E. Jean Carroll in 2019, and awarded Carroll $83.3 million, Trump appealed the verdict. (This case was separate from one in which the jury that found Trump liable for sexual abuse and determined Trump must pay Carroll $5 million in 2023.)

The Justice Department is asking the Supreme Court to step in on the appealed case. More from Politico:

In a Tuesday filing, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Brett Shumate said the government would seek to use the Westfall Act to swap Trump for the U.S. as the defendant in the lawsuit. That would require dismissal of the case because the federal government can’t be sued for defamation. A panel of appeals court judges previously denied the U.S.’s effort to insert itself as the defendant.

In Case You Missed It

Catch up on Kate Riga and Khaya Himmelman’s ongoing coverage of the Callais fallout here: States Rush to Gerrymander Away Black Electoral Power

TPM Cafe: We Aren’t Paying Enough Attention to What the SCOTUS VRA Decision Means for State Legislatures

In case you missed this depressing news from Khaya, John Light and I last evening: Indiana Republicans Who Wouldn’t Cave to Trump Pressure See Sweeping Losses in Primaries

Morning Memo: Trump DOJ Appears Ready to Drop Case Against GOP Rep

Yesterday’s Most Read Story

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