Pope spat ‘a bonus for Trump’

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump participates in a CNN South Carolina Republican Presidential Town Hall with host Anderson Cooper on February 18, 2016 in Columbia, South Carolina. Trump’s response to the Pope was swift, stern and par. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • The evangelical faithful are often suspicious of hierarchical authority and a Pew Institute study in January said liberal Americans have a more favourable view of the leader of the Roman Catholic Church than conservatives.
  • Catholic League President Bill Donohue told CNN that he felt Francis was set up by a reporter asking about Trump.

CHARLESTON

When Republican frontrunner Donald Trump offered a provocative retort to criticism by Pope Francis, it may have been a calculated move to boost his standing ahead of Saturday’s South Carolina’s presidential primary.

Two-thirds of South Carolinians are Protestants, with evangelical voters comprising the largest voting block in the state during its Republican primary.

The evangelical faithful are often suspicious of hierarchical authority and a Pew Institute study in January said liberal Americans have a more favourable view of the leader of the Roman Catholic Church than conservatives.

This could serve in Trump’s favour when it comes to the spat between him and the pontiff, who triggered the controversy when he said the billionaire real estate mogul “is not a Christian” because he wants to build a wall on the US southern border to keep out illegal immigrants.

The remarks led to a torrent of media coverage, even as Francis cautioned his statement by saying he still wanted to see if Trump had made such comments and would “give him the benefit of the doubt.”

Trump’s response was swift, stern and par for the course of his campaign, in which he has refused to let a criticism go unchallenged.

“For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful,” Trump said in a statement that he read to a campaign crowd in Kiawah Island.

Was Trump’s biting response a ploy to gain evangelical support some 48 hours before the critical primary?

“I don’t do it for that reason,” he told Fox News.

“I just tell the truth,” stressing that “we need borders, we have to stop illegal immigration. It’s killing our country.”

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A Trump surrogate wasted no time in pointing out the apparent hypocrisy in slamming the billionaire.

“Amazing comments from the Pope — considering Vatican City is 100 per cent surrounded by massive walls,” Dan Scavino, Trump’s director of social media, posted on Twitter.

The bombshell back-and-forth dominated the campaign, with rivals Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio wading in carefully to suggest the Pope’s advice was not entirely welcome.

“I don’t question anybody’s Christianity because I honestly believe that’s a relationship you have with your creator,” Bush told reporters.

“It only enabled bad behaviour when someone from outside our country talks about Donald Trump.”

Bush is Catholic, as is fellow Floridian Rubio, and they appeared to send the gentle message that Francis, who had just completed a visit to Mexico, should stick to his role as a religious leader.

“I think the Holy Father recognises or should recognise — and I believe he does — how generous America is,” Rubio said.

“When it comes to accepting refugees and immigrants, no nation on this planet is more welcoming, more open or more compassionate than the US.”

“Certainly a lot more welcoming in our laws than Mexico is.”

In his historic speech before the US Congress last year, the Pope urged US lawmakers to mobilise against climate change, take in more refugees and abolish the death penalty — positions opposed by many Republicans.

Religious figures rushed to Francis’s defence.

Catholic League President Bill Donohue told CNN that he felt Francis was set up by a reporter asking about Trump.

“I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt,” Donohue said of the Pope’s remarks.

Fr Timothy, a Jesuit, said the pontiff was reacting less to Trump himself and more to the gospel’s opposition to building barriers.