White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has rejected American Pope Leo’s criticism of the Trump administration’s ‘inhumane’ treatment of illegal immigrants.
The pontiff made a pointed comment on Wednesday that those who support the death penalty and the ‘inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States’ are not pro-life.’
‘Someone who says I’m against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,’ the pope told reporters.
Leo also rebuked Pete Hegseth for his ‘worrying’ rhetoric in his speech to generals at Quantico on Monday. Referring to Secretary of War’s new job title, changed from ‘Secretary of Defense’, the pontiff said, ‘Let’s hope it is only a way of speaking.’
Donald Trump last week signed a memorandum urging Attorney General Pam Bondi and US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro to seek the death penalty in ‘all appropriate cases.’
The executive also signed an order on his first day in office to restore the death penalty, and he has called for the sentence to be used against Charlie Kirk‘s alleged killer, Tyler Robinson.
When asked about the comments from the head of the Catholic church at Wednesday’s White House press briefing, Leavitt pushed back on his characterization.
‘I would reject there was inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants in the United States under this administration,’ the 28-year-old responded.
An artificial intelligence image shared by Donald Trump earlier this year showing him as Pope
Pope Leo XIV at Mariapolis Center in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, on Wednesday
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks to the media at the White House in Washington on Thursday
She then tore into former President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, which led to an explosion of illegal migrant crossings into the U.S. under his tenure.
Immigration officials made approximately 11 million encounters during the Democrat’s term, a hot-button policy issue that helped Trump retake the White House after railing against the loose immigration standards.
The pope’s comments were in response to a question about a lifetime achievement award that Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich planned on giving to Illinois Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin.
The announcement that Durbin would receive the award immediately stirred controversy.
Durbin, who represents Leo’s home state of Illinois, has long supported abortion rights. The award, however, was for Durbin’s advocacy for immigrants.
Illinois Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin said he was ‘overwhelmed’ by the pope’s defense of him
The Democrat eventually withdrew from accepting the award because of the blowback on Cardinal Cupich, who was slammed by his colleagues in the Catholic church for such a recommendation.
‘I think it’s important to look at the overall work that a senator has done during, if I’m not mistaken, in 40 years of service in the United States Senate,’ Pope Leo said in defense of Durbin this week.
Durbin later told NBC News he was ‘overwhelmed’ by the pope’s support.
