The subject of border control and immigration has not strayed from the headlines and the panel news shows in the legacy media, despite Americans speaking full-throatedly with their votes for the stronger safeguards, mass deportation/repatriation, and other promises President Trump made on the 2024 campaign trail.
Unless you've been stranded in the wilderness over the past few days, you know the cardinals in the Vatican after emerging from the conclave, made it known that their choice was the first American-born leader of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Robert Prevost, when Pope Leo XIV greeted the faithful in Rome's St. Peter's Square on Thursday
It was no surprise, then, when a tidal wave of reactions poured forth, some thoughtful and some embarrassing, including from media personalities who should know better, as my colleague Sister Toldjah wrote on former CNN talking head John Harwood's shameless "journalisming" over VP Vance's congrats statement for the new pontiff.
HOT TAKES: 'With Trump's Tariffs in Effect, We're Now Even Making Popes in America'
Some more opinions have wafted out like so much white smoke in the hours that followed. Here's one example of it going oh-so-wrong over at the flailing CNN.
Guests on the "Laura Coates Live" program following the announcement of Pope Leo XIV, including one Democrat representative, threw out theories on how the new pontiff could thwart President Trump's agenda on immigration--or more urgently, act as a global champion for progressives' issues, as our friends at Newsbusters noted. One of the guests, CNN Vatican analyst Katie Prejean McGrady, made a rather ridiculous suggestion, while putting on the typical leftist tone, showing she thinks it's a sage pronouncement.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the kind of Pope who speaks English, picks up the phone, and maybe calls the White House and says, hey, let’s have a conversation about this,” she said. “He was pretty bold in saying that the Vice President was wrong. Well, now, he speaks their language. Maybe they’ll actually listen to him.”
McGrady was alluding to retweets or posts the then-Cardinal Robert Prevost made. The host made sure to mention the Left's high hopes at the beginning of her show, too, and threw a leading question on it to another guest later on, Chicago-area Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-IL) :
"The new Pope has “shown a willingness to share some criticisms of the Trump administration’s immigration policies,” host Laura Coates teased at the top of her May 8 program.
Coates asked, “What role do you think the Pope should play in voicing any opposition to policies that might trouble him?”
With undisguised delight, he answered, "Well, as someone who cares for social justice, a Catholic upbringing, and an immigrant myself, I am very heartened and encouraged at some of the posts that have been attributed to him.”
As my colleague at sister site Townhall, Larry O'Connor, correctly stated in a primer video on Friday, this sort of political conversation--whether from the Right or the Left--is completely missing the point on the Pope's actual role.
In fact, the Pope has made prior statements on immigration that some call "nuanced" compared to the late Pope Francis, especially on the importance of borders. Then-Cardinal Robert Prevost commented about the delicate balance between having compassion and respecting a nation's sovereign borders, which Fr. Calvin Robinson shared on his X account.
Watch:
"All these immigrants continue to come. It's a huge problem, and it's a problem worldwide," he said, in part, "not only in this country. There's got to be a way both to solve the problem, but also to treat people with respect."
Let's let things play out, instead of jumping into mud puddles of assumption about how the new Pope will speak out (or not speak out) on the political quagmires of our times. He's only been in St. Peter's seat for a few days, after all.
Whichever way you stand on this: How cool is it, that the moment below was captured on film?
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