Former Vice President Mike Pence has publicly broken with President Trump over the president's recent clash with the leader of the Catholic Church, marking another instance of the former running mates diverging on policy and decorum.
In an interview clip set to air on MS NOW, Pence told reporter Ali Vitali that he would have advised Trump to avoid the confrontation. 'If I was advising him, as I did every day for 4 1/2 years, I'd say, 'Let the pope be the pope and you be the president,'' Pence said.
When asked whether he had directly shared that advice with Trump, Pence acknowledged he had not. 'We don't talk as often as we used to, but I get the distinct impression he still listens to us and watches what we do,' he added.
The rift stems from Trump's decision earlier this month to post an AI-generated image that appeared to depict him as Jesus Christ. After initially taking down the post and claiming it showed him as a doctor, Trump doubled down by reposting an AI-created photo of himself being embraced by Jesus. The moves drew criticism from some religious conservatives and political allies.
The feud escalated after Pope Leo XIV criticized the ongoing U.S.-Iran military conflict and called for an end to hostilities. Trump responded on Truth Social by attacking the pontiff directly, calling him 'WEAK on crime and terrible for Foreign Policy.' The president wrote: 'Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It's hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it's hurting the Catholic Church!'
Pence, a devout Catholic who has long been a standard-bearer for social conservatives, has become an increasingly vocal critic of Trump administration policies. His advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, recently joined a growing GOP revolt against the White House's reported plan to bail out Spirit Airlines from bankruptcy. In a memo shared with The Hill on Thursday, the group argued: 'American families shouldn't be forced to bail out Spirit and the shareholders or pay the bill to see if the federal government can run an airline. Conservatives must oppose this bailout.'
The former vice president's stance aligns with broader conservative pushback against what some see as Trump's departure from free-market principles. As the 2026 midterms approach, Pence's criticism underscores the ongoing tension within the Republican Party between Trump loyalists and traditional conservatives.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to face scrutiny on multiple fronts, including a record pace of citizenship stripping cases under the DOJ and a push to reclassify medical marijuana. Pence's comments on the pope feud add to a growing list of policy disagreements that highlight the shifting dynamics within the GOP.
