The Elitist Media continue to treat the exchanges between President Trump and Pope Leo XIV as an opportunity to try to drive Catholics from the President’s coalition ahead of the midterms. And absolutely no one is more ham-handed about it than ABC News. Watch Rachel Scott’s report rehashing the controversy, with a sprinkling of Vice President JD Vance’s remarks at a Turning Point USA Event in Georgia, as aired on ABC’s World News Tonight on Wednesday, April 15th, 2026 (click "expand" to view transcript):  WATCH: @ABCWorldNews continues to ham-handedly try to pry Catholics away from President Trump's coalition. DAVID MUIR: Tonight, Vice President JD Vance now warning the Pope to, quote, “be careful.” What Vance was talking about as President Trump lashes out against Pope Leo. And… pic.twitter.com/ffS1oyOuwY — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) April 16, 2026 embed DAVID MUIR: Tonight, Vice President JD Vance now warning the Pope to, quote, “be careful.” What Vance was talking about as President Trump lashes out against Pope Leo. And tonight on The Hill, the leading Republican in the Senate now saying the focus should be on the economy, gas prices and not going after the Pope. Here's Rachel Scott. RACHEL SCOTT: Tonight, the backlash after Vice President JD Vance told Pope Leo, the spiritual leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, he needs to be careful when talking about matters of theology. JD VANCE: I think that it's important in the same way that it's important for the Vice President of the United States to be careful when I talk about matters of public policy, I think it's very, very important for the Pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology. RACHEL SCOTT: The Pope has spoken out during the war on Iran, criticizing President Trump's rhetoric about destroying a civilization, declaring on Palm Sunday, “Jesus does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, takes issue with that. VANCE: Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated Holocaust camps and liberated those- those innocent people from, you know, those who had survived the Holocaust? I…I certainly think the answer is yes. SCOTT: The Vice President doubling down on his criticism of the American Pope. VANCE: If you're going to opine on matters of theology, you've got to be careful. You've got to make sure it's anchored in the truth. SCOTT: Tonight, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops pushing back, saying: “When Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he's not merely offering opinions on theology. He is preaching the gospel.” The Pope himself had nothing to say about the Vice President's comments. He was in Algeria, an overwhelmingly Muslim country where he visited a mosque. POPE LEO XIV: Although we have different beliefs, we have different ways of worshiping, we have different ways of living. We can live together in peace. SCOTT: The Pope calling that message something the world needs to hear today.  Back here in Washington many lawmakers, including some Republicans, are not happy with what the President and the Vice President have been saying about the Pope. In fact, the top Republican in the Senate with this message to the administration saying focus on the pocketbook issues and, quote: “let the Church be the Church," David. MUIR: Rachel Scott at The White House tonight. Thank you, Rachel. ABC is doing everything in their power to keep this beef alive and going. And they stand alone in doing so as CBS and ABC have already moved on.Their putting all this effort into pretending to care what Catholics think about the issues of the day is almost cute to watch- in a “bless your heart” sort of way.  The report itself clocked in at about 2 minutes and 17 seconds. Scott threw everything and the kitchen sink at Vice President JD Vance as he addressed the controversy at the TPUSA event. Scott even went on to note that Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019. That observance stands as an implicit and unexpressed “how dare this new convert question the Pope” dog whistle. And yet the question remains: when did ABC ever care about what Catholics think? The answer is that they really don’t outside of whatever The Narrative™ might be on any given day. The Pope is getting all this run because he’s expressed opposition to the Iran operation and has spoken out against immigration enforcement- both positions contrary to policy put forth by the Trump administration. But you never saw this same concern when the Obama Administration sued the Little Sisters of the Poor in order to force them to pay for abortifacients, when Kamala Harris persecuted David Daleiden for exposing Planned Parenthood's sale of baby parts, or when the Biden Administration locked pro-lifers up under the FACE Act. Likewise, you never hear the media covering Democrat criticisms of the Pope when he speaks out against abortion or same-sex marriage or the ordination of women. The Elitist Media recoil at those expressions of faith. This report was little more than ABC doing a long-form version of the meme with the smug liberal saying, “No I'm not a Christian and I have nothing but contempt for your backward religious beliefs so yeah, this argument wouldn't work on me but maybe if I use it on you, you'll do what I want.” These fake appeals to authority ring hollow and persuade no one.