The new pope, Leo XIV, may not be as far-right for the partisan tastes of the Media Research Center, but they’re also annoyed that people point out that fact. Alex Christy did more of that in a May 10 post:
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.
A couple hours later, Christy got mad that fair-weather conservative Bill Maher criticized the new pope:
Every once in a while, HBO’s Bill Maher feels the need to remind people that he is still an intensely anti-religious individual. Friday’s episode of Real Time was one of those occasions, as Maher used the election of a new pope to launch into multiple anti-religious ramblings in order to portray religious people as unintelligent and violent, but it was Maher who relied on intellectually unsophisticated arguments.
During his monologue, Maher recalled how, “the new pope already gave his first mass, oh it was a good one. He said some very interesting things. He said many people perceive Christianity as absurd and meant for the weak and unintelligent—finally a pope who gets me!”
Christy also got upset when Maher brought up India and Pakistan as an example of military conflicts driven by religion:
That’s simply lazy. Maher is now talking about three different religions: Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism, but refusing to examine each’s teachings and truthfulness.
That also means that Maher is guilty of bad foreign policy analysis. In the less than 12 hours since Real Time aired, India and Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire, and their nukes probably helped prevent a repeat of 1947, 1965, 1971, or even 1999. It is impossible to deny the role religion has played in the India-Pakistan conflict since partition, but one must also acknowledge the intense nationalism that arises from relatively recently becoming an independent country and the fact that the Kashmir region is of vital strategic importance as it is critical to both countries’ water security.
But India and Pakistan accused each other of ceasefire violations just hours after it was announced, and it’s unclear that war has been completely averted.
Jeffrey Lord groused that “the media” will treat the new pope in his May 10 column:
The American liberal media is notorious for going after Republican/conservative politicians, Presidents specifically included, because of their conservative stance on so-called “social issues.” To look back – and currently! – at the coverage of candidate and then President Donald Trump and one can only imagine how the media will treat an American Pope.
[…]One suspects that the problem ahead for America’s first Pope is not just political but cultural. The liberal American media is more than used to putting a negative spotlight on American pro-lifers and those seen as opposing gay rights. It is what they do.
So the question now? Will the American media turn on the new American Pope and his support for Catholic doctrine for no other reason than that they routinely target America’s pro-life or anti-gay rights politicians?
It will be both unprecedented and interesting to watch.
Stay tuned.
Lord made no mention of how right-wing media — like the outlet that publishes his column — is treating the new pope. Apparently, they don’t count as “American media.”
Rich Noyes served up a May 11 flashback post complaining that when popes “espouse religious and moral views that are at odds with the secular liberal beliefs of most American journalists, journalists act as if it’s the Popes who are supposed to yield to the media’s superior moral wisdom.” That was followed by Jorge Bonilla ranting that it was again pointed out that the new pope is not a right-wing pro-Trumper:
Despite warnings to the contrary, ABC News continues to inject American politics into their coverage of the papacy. The most Trump-averse of the legacy networks continues to wishcast their desire that Pope Leo XIV become an anti-Trump Resistance figure.
The May 11th edition of This Week was to be a special edition broadcast from The Vatican, focusing on the historic papacy of the man formerly known as Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, the first pope born in the United States, other than a brief aside to cover potential Russia-Ukraine peace talks. And there was broad coverage of the pope’s early life, and a recap of the broader coverage we’ve seen over the course of the past week.
But, inevitably for the most stridently anti-Trump of the legacy networks, the subject conversation unfortunately veered to domestic politics.
[…]Here again, the legacy media aim to create strife among persons of faith by framing discussions of popes and policy as oppositional to Republicans in office. They are very happy to cast Leo XIV as a “Trump resister” on immigration.
But isn’t Bonilla also trying to frame discussions of popes and policy in relation to Republicans in office?
Nicholas Fondacaro set up his usual libelous smear of a certain co-host of “The View” during his daily hate-watch of the show on May 12:
After initially bristling at the election of Pope Leo XIV because of his support for traditional marriage, purported “devout Catholic” and staunch racist Sunny Hostin announced that she changed her mind about the pope. She made it clear during the Monday edition of ABC’s The View that her sudden change in position was driven by the pope’s black ancestry, which she repeatedly praised: “we actually have a black pope!”
“I’m digging him. And the question I guess people are asking is do you think people will take his message to heart?” moderator Whoopi Goldberg wondered.
Hostin spoke up first with the intent to walk back her stern comments from Friday. “And I will say on Friday, I read some things about his sort of lack of inclusion with the LGBTQ+ community…He was interviewed in 2023 and he had completely changed that position as Ana mentioned,” she proclaimed.
She followed up with her real reason for her abrupt 180-flip-flop on Pope Leo: his race. Calling it “a chef’s kiss,” Hostin was over the moon for Leo once she knew he was black:
Fondacaro didn’t explain why he is apparently horrified that Leo has black ancestry.
Fondacaro further ranted about this later that day as he once again took over the MRC’s podcast in Tim Graham’s stead, adding that “I also speaks [sic] with podcast producer Ben Graham about the media’s continued attempts to claim Pope Leo XIV as theirs (while trying to pit him against the conservative wing).” Ben Graham is Tim Graham’s son, meaning there’s more than one nepo baby at the MRC.