The cast of Friday’s PBS News Hour joyfully welcomed the election of Pope Leo XIV on Friday as they tried to claim him as one of their own as all hailed him as the anti-Trump figure the country needs, but all also avoided any parts of Leo that might make them uncomfortable.
Host Geoff Bennett was not content to facilitate the discussion between New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart; he also got in on the commentary, “David, this might be the first pope with a social media trail, because, before he became Pope Leo, Cardinal Robert Prevost occasionally posted on social media. His posts and reposts have been dissected by many, criticized by some of those on the right. And his posts have suggested that he supports protecting immigrants, reducing gun violence, combating climate change, certainly in line with the Gospel, maybe not in line with right-wing politics.”
He then wondered, “What questions, if any, does this really pose for the faithful who also see themselves as being Trump supporters?”
Those waiting for the eventually counterpart about liberals, abortion, and LGBTQ issues would be well advised not to hold their breath. As it was, Brooks replied, “First, I just say I found it incredibly moving to watch him give his first remarks as pope, in part because here I was watching an American on the world stage being a decent human being and being a good person. So I found it so just refreshing to see America portrayed in this way by this man.”
Forgetting that countries like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea exist, Brooks continued by comparing today’s United States to the 1970’s Soviet Union:
Secondly, I think the cardinals did a brilliant thing in selecting an American, which was so unexpected. But a couple decades ago, when the Soviet Union was the chief problem area in the world, the cardinals selected John Paul II, a Pole, and he was — helped end communism.
Now America is the most troubled nation in the world, and they select an American who represents Catholic social teaching, who represents a series of teaching about the marginalized, about the dignity of all human people, about welcoming the stranger. And they knew what they were doing.
Brooks kept rolling, “They picked somebody — if Donald Trump is about pagan values, about dominance, power, control, victory, conquest, here's a guy about blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek. And that's a complete social change and a moral challenge to Trumpism.”
Concluding, Brooks suggested that their might be something wrong with capitalism and compared it to communism:
And that's a complete social change and a moral challenge to Trumpism. And the final thing I will say is that, during World War II, in the middle of the 20th century, there was communism on one side, there was capitalism on the other side, these two machines. And the Catholics gave us a system in the middle there, which they called personalism, a guy named Jacques Maritain, Emmanuel Mounier. And that was a more humane version to combat the dehumanizing processes that were afflicting left and right. And so who knows, but this pope could be a real moral force in the country and especially in America.
As for Capehart, he also looked at Leo’s election “as an incredible rebuke to the American president.”
He further claimed:
Here you have an American pope who is as a leader in the world going to go toe to toe with the American president who, from everything we have seen, is the complete opposite of the Holy Father. And so the question then becomes, what do American Catholics do when they have an American pope who speaks the teachings of Jesus Christ, all the things that David was talking about, and yet they have been supporting a man who is antithetical to all of those things. To me, I look forward to Pope Leo XIV, but I really look forward to seeing what American Catholics do in response.
Not only did none of the three men talk about the challenges Leo posses to liberalism, Geoff Bennett awkwardly transitioned to other topics, “Well, from the pope to former President Biden, there is a through line there since, Biden is the most devout Catholic… The second Catholic elected, but certainly the most devout, you could argue.”
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Here is a transcript for the May 9 show:
PBS News Hour
5/9/2025
7:44 PM ET
GEOFF BENNETT: So, the election of this new pope, the first American pope, provides a fresh lens to discuss the influence of religion on our politics, especially Trumpism.
And, David, this might be the first pope with a social media trail, because, before he became Pope Leo, Cardinal Robert Prevost occasionally posted on social media. His posts and reposts have been dissected by many, criticized by some of those on the right. And his posts have suggested that he supports protecting immigrants, reducing gun violence, combating climate change, certainly in line with the Gospel, maybe not in line with right-wing politics.
What questions, if any, does this really pose for the faithful who also see themselves as being Trump supporters?
DAVID BROOKS: First, I just say I found it incredibly moving to watch him give his first remarks as pope, in part because here I was watching an American on the world stage being a decent human being and being a good person. So I found it so just refreshing to see America portrayed in this way by this man.
Secondly, I think the cardinals did a brilliant thing in selecting an American, which was so unexpected. But a couple decades ago, when the Soviet Union was the chief problem area in the world, the cardinals selected John Paul II, a Pole, and he was — helped end communism.
Now America is the most troubled nation in the world, and they select an American who represents Catholic social teaching, who represents a series of teaching about the marginalized, about the dignity of all human people, about welcoming the stranger. And they knew what they were doing.
They picked somebody — if Donald Trump is about pagan values, about dominance, power, control, victory, conquest, here's a guy about blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek.
And that's a complete social change and a moral challenge to Trumpism. And the final thing I will say is that, during World War II, in the middle of the 20th century, there was communism on one side, there was capitalism on the other side, these two machines. And the Catholics gave us a system in the middle there which they called personalism, a guy named Jacques Maritain, Emmanuel Mounier.
And that was a more humane version to combat the dehumanizing processes that were afflicting left and right. And so who knows, but this pope could be a real moral force in the country and especially in America.
BENNETT: A real moral force.
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, one, I could not help but think of Pope Leo XIV while reading David's column in The New York Times.
But my immediate thought after saying, “Oh, my gosh, it's an American pope,” I instantly thought, but looking at it politically to your point, David, I thought, this is kind of — how could I not look at this as an incredible rebuke to the American president?
Because here you have an American pope who is as a leader in the world going to go toe to toe with the American president who, from everything we have seen, is the complete opposite of the Holy Father. And so the question then becomes, what do American Catholics do when they have an American pope who speaks the teachings of Jesus Christ, all the things that David was talking about, and yet they have been supporting a man who is antithetical to all of those things.
To me, I look forward to Pope Leo XIV, but I really look forward to seeing what American Catholics do in response.
BENNETT: Well, from the pope to former President Biden, there is a through line there since, Biden is the most devout Catholic—
CAPEHART: Okay.
BENNETT: —ever to—
CAPEHART: That's true.
BENNETT: The second Catholic elected, but certainly the most devout, you could argue.
