Pope Francis’ relations with three US presidents: Obama, Trump, Biden
During the dozen years that Pope Francis served as the pontiff, he met each of the three men who served as the U.S. president during his papacy.
Former President Joe Biden decried the “politics of dehumanization” in a USA TODAY op-ed Monday praising the late Pope Francis that some may interpret as a thinly veiled swipe at his White House successor.
Biden, a practing Catholic, joined President Donald Trump and other world leaders who attended the 88-year-old pontiff’s funeral over the weekend. It marked the first time the two U.S. political rivals, who continue trading barbs, had been at the same event since Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
“Francis was a pope for our time, when so many leaders embraced cruelty. He stood for compassion,” Biden said in the op-end. “When so many casually embraced lies. He stood for truth.”
The former president, who left office with an abysmal 36% approval rating, went further when bringing up Francis’ views on world affairs, particularly the treatment of migrants, which has become politically polarizing.
“(Francis) called out the cruelty being inflicted on others,” Biden wrote. “He spoke against the demonization of the weakest among us: ‘How much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized, and migrants!'”
Trump has implemented several new measures in his pursuit to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, such as invoking the seldom-used 1798 Alien Enemies Act to immediately deport the Venezuelan nationals suspected of gang activity.
“If we don’t get these criminals out of our country, we are not going to have a country any longer,” Trump said in an April 21 post on Truth Social.
Biden has been more direct in other remarks taking on Trump since leaving the White House, such when he accused the president of “taking a hatchet” to the Social Security Administration as part of the administration’s larger federal cutbacks and layoffs.
For his part, Trump hasn’t let up on Biden either and has at various moments bashed his Democratic foe directly in speeches, social media posts and through executive orders.
During the White House’s annual Easter Egg Roll last week, for instance, Trump mocked Biden for being redirected byanaide dressed in a bunny costume. “Do you remember the bunny with Joe Biden?” the president asked children at the event. “Do you remember when the bunny took Joe Biden out? He’s not taking Trump out.”
Biden is one of the president’s easier punching bags in part because of the continued fallout within the Democratic Party, which is searching for new, younger voices to make the case against Trump 2.0.
Many progressives remain split over the 2024 presidential election, including how the party handled questions about Biden’s acuity while in office. He was faced with significant second-guessing from fellow Democrats about his ability to finish the race before ultimately deciding to end his campaign.
Contributing: Joey Garrison
