Pope Leo recently kicked off a four-day visit to France, and CBS assigned correspondent Chris Livesay to follow him around. Amid all the France-specific aspects of the trip, Livesay bragged to CBS Saturday Morning that he tried to make it about Trump.
Livesay started out well enough, “Well, it has been a homecoming of sorts for a pope who has roots right here in France. Adding to that emotion, seeing Notre Dame restored to all of its glory. Yesterday, he became the first pope to visit the cathedral since it was devastated by fire in 2019. Who could forget the images of the spire collapsing? But now where once there were ashes there are prayers instead. Upon the pope's arrival, President Emmanuel Macron hosted Leo at the Elysee Palace where he argued in this notoriously secular country that faith still has a place in public life. Later, Leo turned to artificial intelligence.”
"MAGA-coded" CBS correspondent Chris Livesay reported on Pope Leo's trip to France by bragging he made it about it about Trump, "Arguing it cannot answer questions that concern the meaning of human life. Aboard the papal plane, the pope was asked about President Trump's attempt… pic.twitter.com/3D8G9EZGpE
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) September 26, 2026
He then played a brief clip of a speech Leo gave where he declared that, “Many tasks once performed by human beings have been entrusted to machines.”
Livesay elaborated, “Arguing it cannot answer questions that concern the meaning of human life.”
The American media love it when the pope criticizes the Trump administration, but papal criticisms of other politicians get far less coverage. Therefore, Leo’s references to France’s new euthanasia law in front of Macron went unmentioned.
Since the trip had nothing to do with Trump, Livesay took it upon himself to insert him into the conversation, “Aboard the papal plane, the pope was asked about President Trump's attempt to ban U.S. media from the White House. The pope said he was very happy the press was on board and we were all welcome. When it was my turn, I asked if he had plans to speak with President Trump about the future of Iran. He gave no verbal response, just threw up his hands.”
Allegedly “MAGA-coded” CBS was the worst of the Saturday morning shows when it came to Leo’s visit to France. ABC’s Good Morning America joined CBS in omitting Leo’s criticisms of France’s euthanasia law but otherwise was content to focus on the huge crowds, AI, Notre Dame, and other Catholic-centered aspects of the visit. NBC’s Today did not air due to golf coverage.
Here is a transcript for the September 25 show:
CBS Saturday Morning
9/26/2026
8:16 AM ET
CHRIS LIVESAY: Good morning. Well, it has been a homecoming of sorts for a pope who has roots right here in France. Adding to that emotion, seeing Notre Dame restored to all of its glory.
Yesterday, he became the first pope to visit the cathedral since it was devastated by fire in 2019. Who could forget the images of the spire collapsing? But now where once there were ashes there are prayers instead. Upon the pope's arrival, President Emmanuel Macron hosted Leo at the Elysee Palace where he argued in this notoriously secular country that faith still has a place in public life. Later, Leo turned to artificial intelligence.
POPE LEO: Many tasks once performed by human beings have been entrusted to machines.
LIVESAY: Arguing it cannot answer questions that concern the meaning of human life. Aboard the papal plane, the pope was asked about President Trump's attempt to ban U.S. media from the White House. The pope said he was very happy the press was on board and we were all welcome.
When it was my turn, I asked if he had plans to speak with President Trump about the future of Iran. He gave no verbal response, just threw up his hands.
He also joked with a colleague aboard the plane who asked him if he had anything to do with getting a miracle for his hometown Chicago White Sox, who just made the playoffs. “No comment,” the pope smiled, adding, “Great things happen in Chicago.”
