Sean Hannity tried to turn Pope Leo into the problem. Instead, he ended up looking like the one in over his head.
The Fox News host rushed to Donald Trump’s defense after the president’s public attack on Pope Leo over Iran, then volunteered himself for the kind of fight few people think ends well: lecturing the pope on faith. Hannity accused Leo of “selective moral outrage,” suggested he was pushing left-wing politics, and even floated the idea that he should be the one to interview the pontiff because of his Catholic schooling and theology background. The blowback was immediate, and online reaction made one thing clear. A lot of people thought Hannity had badly overplayed his hand. Trump had in fact publicly blasted Pope Leo over Iran and called him weak on crime and foreign policy after the pope condemned war and bombing.
Sean Hannity Tries to Put the Pope on Trial
On his radio show and later on Fox, Hannity framed Pope Leo as someone more interested in politics than religion, accusing him of “twisting religion” to target Trump and America. He also argued that Leo’s condemnation of bombing was not biblically sound, pointing to wars described in the Bible as proof that the pope’s stance was wrong. The spectacle landed with a thud online because the basic image was too absurd to ignore: a MAGA media star trying to school the head of the Catholic Church on Christian teaching. Social media critics openly mocked that reversal, with several high-profile users ridiculing the idea that Hannity knew Catholicism better than the pope. Reports on the exchange also noted Hannity’s attempt to tie Leo to Democratic figures such as David Axelrod and J.B. Pritzker.
That is what made the takedown backfire. Hannity wanted to frame Leo as partisan and soft. Instead, he handed critics a cleaner punch line: Sean Hannity thinks he should cross-examine the pope.
Trump’s Pope Feud Keeps Getting Messier
The wider context only made Hannity’s defense look worse. Pope Leo has been sharply critical of the war with Iran, saying God does not bless those who drop bombs and continuing to push a peace-first line even after Trump escalated the clash. Reuters and AP both reported that Leo remained publicly defiant after Trump’s attacks, while also downplaying any interest in turning the dispute into a personal war of words. Trump, meanwhile, kept up the pressure online, making the pope an unlikely but very visible new target in his political messaging.
That left Hannity defending a feud that already looked erratic, then inflaming it further with a performance many people saw as arrogant and ridiculous. The online response was not subtle. He tried to take down the pope and ended up making himself an easier target.
