The Friday Brief: May 8, 2025

Inside: MAGA Hates The Woke Pope. The Dumbest Trade Deal Ever. MAGA Maoism FAA Fuckery. MTG for Senate. The Latest Epstein Nothingburger. Eagle Ed Martin, ETTD. What I’m Reading. Changes to Substack Finds. Ad of the Week. Scenes from the Home Front.

The Big Picture

MAGA Hates The Woke Pope

And by “woke,” I mean a Bergolian cardinal influenced by Pope Francis whose opening remarks were full of a rich warmth, and an overt emphasis on mercy, humility, justice, and a more pastoral message that was almost universally well received, even by Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.

The rest of MAGA is very, very angry.

Pope Leo — lately Cardinal Robert Prevost — was one of the types of cardinals in the crosshairs of a MAGA opposition research and smear campaign to disqualify moderate and progressive cardinals for the Papacy. (I heard about this effort six or seven years ago and counseled a potential vendor to stay far, far away. I heard it was later rebooted after it leaked under another organization.)

They wanted a MAGA Pope, a cardinal in a red baseball cap willing to turn the Church of Rome into one more echo chamber. The fact that Leo is an American from Chicago makes them more furious. He understands our politics and culture in a way no other candidate for the Papacy would have, and this frightens MAGA TradCath types who wanted a Trump ally in the Vatican.

God forbid the new Pope follow the teachings of Jesus and not follow the teachings of the MAGA Apocrypha. Much of their fury has come from Pope Leo’s advocacy for decent treatment for immigrants and refugees, which, of course, is banned in the Book of Homan.

The arrogance of MAGA’s predominantly Protestant base demanding a Catholic Pope who fits their ideological bill was remarkable, as was their anger.