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By Jordan King
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A heckler shouted "Jesus Christ does not support genocide" at Vice President JD Vance while he was discussing Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday.
Vance was speaking at a TurningPoint USA event at the University of Georgia when he referenced Pope Leo’s criticisms of wars in the Middle East.
"I like that the pope is an advocate for peace, I think that's certainly one of his roles,” Vance said. “On the other hand, how can you say that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword?"
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He added: "Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated France from the Nazis? Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated Holocaust camps and liberated those innocent people? I certainly think the answer is yes."
A man in the audience then yelled: "Jesus Christ does not support genocide."
Vance addressed him directly, saying: "And I agree, Jesus Christ certainly does not support genocide ... I think it's very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology."
He added: "Hey, random dude screaming I told you I'd respond to your point, I just want to respond to this question first."
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What To Know About Donald Trump’s Feud With the Pope
Pope Leo, the first American-born pope, has strongly condemned the war in the Middle East, and the "delusion of omnipotence" that caused it, saying it has led to "absurd and inhuman violence."
Earlier this month, when Trump wrote on social media that "an entire civilization will die tonight" if Iran failed to meet a U.S. deadline, Leo responded: "This is truly unacceptable."
On Sunday night, Trump posted a scathing attack on the pope in a post on Truth Social, calling him “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy.”
He added that the Pope should be "thankful," and that he was "only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump."
It comes after NBC Chicago, citing a source close to Leo, reported that a January meeting between Vatican diplomat Cardinal Christophe Pierre and senior Pentagon officials was "most unpleasant and confrontational.”
The Department of Defense pushed back on that characterization, calling it "highly exaggerated and distorted" and describing the meeting as "cordial." The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See said media accounts amounted to "deliberate misrepresentation."
The feud is showing no signs of dying down, with Trump bringing it up again late on Tuesday night, in a post on Truth Social that said: “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable. Thank you for your attention to this matter. AMERICA IS BACK!!! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
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