Pope Leo Terrifies Trump & the Christian Nationalist RightWhat happens when faith starts questioning power?
Endless Urgency is free to read—thanks to our paid subscribers. If this work has been useful to you, please help keep it available to everyone by becoming a paid subscriber. Just $8/month makes a huge difference:By now, I’m sure you’ve seen that Donald Trump took it upon himself to not only attack Pope Leo by name, but also post an insane AI-generated image of himself as Jesus Christ healing the sick. It’s offensive, it’s bizarre, and it says a lot more about him than I think he realizes. But there’s a deeper conversation here—not just about Trump, but about what he represents, how his movement operates, and why Catholicism, at this moment, poses a real threat to the version of Christianity that many in MAGA are trying to promote. For those who don’t know, I’m a practicing Catholic with a complicated relationship with my faith. I found my way back to it when Pope Francis ascended, and I started going back to church more consistently after Pope Leo took over the Vatican last year. My faith matters to me. It shapes how I see the world, how I try to show up for my family, and why I believe in the kind of politics I do. I can trace most of my values back to that foundation—even during the periods when I drifted from it. And that’s what makes this moment feel so stark. Because when you compare that to Donald Trump, there’s no real evidence of any grounding in faith beyond himself. There’s no consistency, no humility, no sense of moral framework that extends beyond loyalty and power. That’s not a partisan critique—it’s an observation about how he moves through the world. And yet, for years now, people who claim to be motivated politically by Christianity have aligned themselves with him because he delivered results. They saw an opportunity to advance their agenda, and they took it. On their own terms, it’s been effective—policy wins, overturning Roe v. Wade, political power and influence in the government. But that alliance has always been transactional. And now it’s starting to show its limits. Because Trump doesn’t recognize any authority higher than himself. Not institutions, not traditions, and certainly not religious leadership that challenges him. That’s where Pope Leo comes in—and why this moment matters. For the first time, we have an American pope. Someone who speaks in our cultural language, who understands this country not as an outsider looking in, but as someone who comes from it. I still remember crying when I learned we were going to have an American pope from Chicago. That meant something to me in a way I didn’t expect. And now, that same pope—and other Catholic leaders—are speaking clearly about issues like war, economic inequality, and immigration. Not as politicians, but as moral voices. As people calling for restraint, dignity, and care for others. That creates a direct contrast. Not just between two individuals, but between two visions of what faith in public life looks like. One is rooted in power—using religion as a tool to justify dominance, exclusion, and control. Endless Urgency is free to read—thanks to our paid subscribers. If this work has been useful to you, please help keep it available to everyone by becoming a paid subscriber. Just $8/month makes a huge difference:The other treats faith as a constraint—something that calls for humility, service, and moral accountability, even when it’s inconvenient. That version isn’t perfect. But it asks something fundamentally different, especially of power. That contrast is uncomfortable for people who have spent years blurring the line between faith and political identity. Because if faith becomes something that can challenge power instead of reinforce it, then it stops being as useful to those who’ve built their influence around it. That’s why you’re seeing such a mixed reaction from MAGA right now. Some are suddenly outraged. Others are defending Trump. Some are trying to ignore it altogether and hope it goes away. But underneath all of that is the same tension: what happens when faith stops serving the people in power and starts questioning it? Because Trump doesn’t recognize any authority higher than himself. Not institutions, not traditions, and certainly not religious leadership that challenges him. But this time, the target isn’t just a political opponent or an influencer he’s mad at. It’s a religious leader with global credibility, speaking to hundreds of millions of people who take their faith seriously. That’s different. And it’s why this moment feels bigger than a stupid, yet blasphemous, AI meme. It’s exposing the limits of an alliance that was always built on convenience rather than shared conviction. And in doing so, it creates an opening. Because for too long, Democrats have been hesitant to talk about faith in public life, ceding that ground entirely to the right. And in doing so, we’ve allowed a narrow, often distorted version of Christianity to define what faith in politics looks like. It doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to be religious to see the value in moral language that emphasizes dignity, care, and responsibility. And if you are religious, you shouldn’t feel like you have to check that part of yourself at the door to participate in politics. We can’t let faith be something that’s owned, weaponized, and narrowed by one movement. It’s bigger than that. And moments like this—when the contradictions are so visible—give us a chance to say so. Not by shouting louder, but by being clearer about what we believe and why. Because at the end of the day, this isn’t just about Donald Trump or Pope Leo. It’s about which version of faith we’re willing to accept in public life—one that bends to power, or one that challenges it. That’s the choice in front of us. And that choice is becoming harder to ignore. Mike Nellis is a Democratic strategist and entrepreneur who has raised over $1 billion for Democratic campaigns and causes. He’s the founder of Authentic.org, an award-winning fundraising and advertising agency, and a former Senior Advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris. This Substack is where he writes with endless urgency about the issues of the day—and how we can save the Democratic Party and our democracy. You’re currently a free subscriber to Endless Urgency with Mike Nellis. For the full experience or to support my work so I can keep it free for as many people as possible, upgrade your subscription.
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Keep a civil tongue.