As people who follow President Trump‘s running commentaries know, he doesn’t like it when anyone questions his faith, which he claims is strong. Which probably means it’s the brawniest of any president we’ve ever known.
Like crowd size, when Trump goes big, he goes all in — even with God.
Which is why when Pope Francis suggested his faith wasn’t up to speed, he had a counterpunch. In February 2016, the leader of the Catholic Church publicly questioned Trump’s faith because of his anti-immigration politics and desire to build the most beautiful wall you’ve ever seen. The Pope suggested Trump’s wall idea has serious implications. “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” he said bluntly. (RELATED: The Pope Decries Border Wall)
Trump obviously didn’t remain on the ground for that one. He got up and did what he usually does.
Isn’t that what Jesus would do? Counterpunch?
“For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful,” Trump said.
South Bend Mayor and presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg must have missed the memo on being disgraceful.
During a recent CNN town hall, he called V.P. Pence‘s a “cheerleader for the porn star presidency.” He also isn’t buying Trump’s so-called Christianity, no matter that his spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, told the Christian Broadcast Network that “God wanted Trump to be President.”
In an op-ed for USA Today that was published Wednesday, Kirsten Powers — who once dated the extremely religious Anthony Weiner (they really dated, but I’m joking about his religious proclivities and she wrote about how he lied to her) — interviewed Buttigieg about his Christian faith and what it means in the context of modern politics. Unlike Trump, Buttigieg, the only openly gay man in the race, easily answers questions about his favorite biblical passages.
“When I think about where most of Scripture points me, it is toward defending the poor, and the immigrant, and the stranger, and the prisoner, and the outcast, and those who are left behind by the way society works. And what we have now is this exaltation of wealth and power, almost for its own sake,” he told Powers.
Unlike Trump, who has a hankering for “Two Corinthians,” Buttigieg likes Matthew 6:5, which basically says: STOP PUTTING ON A SHOW. Considering he speaks seven languages, Buttigieg had no problem reeling this one off the top of his head: “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.”
Mayor Pete hesitates for about a millisecond before questioning Trump’s faith.
Then again, Trump hasn’t bestowed a nickname on him yet. So why the hell not?
“I’m reluctant to comment on another person’s faith, but I would say it is hard to look at this president’s actions and believe that they’re the actions of somebody who believes in God,” Buttigieg said, adding that Trump worships himself and never humbles himself before God.
Dr. James Dobson, an evangelical author and founder of Focus on the Family, has Trump’s back. During the presidential election, he wrote, “If anything, this man is a baby Christian who doesn’t have a clue about how believers think and talk. All I can tell you is that we have only two choices, Hillary or Donald. Hillary scares me to death.”
He affirmed the president’s Christianity, writing, “Trump appears to be tender to things of the spirit.” And f—k it, if all else fails, Trump has a faith advisory committee that consists of the likes of Michelle Bachmann, Jerry Falwell, Jr., and plenty of other big-name holy rollers.
Calling Kellyanne Conway, who recently said of her husband, George, insulting Trump’s mental health, “You think he should just take that sitting down?” (RELATED: The Conways’ Marriage Is The Talk Of This Town)
So far, Trump has been silent on Buttigieg’s cracks on his faith.