Donald Trump praises Pope Francis after spat over US-Mexico wall

Second best: Donald Trump speaks at his Iowa Caucus night gathering in Des Moines, Iowa
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Michael Howie19 February 2016

Donald Trump has heaped praise on the Pope hours after an extraordinary spat with the pontiff over the billionaire’s plan to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.

The Republican frontrunner tried to make peace with the pontiff - and potentially angry Catholic voters - hours after he called him “not Christian” on his return from a trip to Mexico.

Asked what he thought of the billionaire’s campaign pledge to build a wall along the entire length of the border and expell millions of illegal imigrants, Pope Francis said: “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.”

That drew a ferocious response from the Presbyterian front-runner who said it was “disgraceful” for a religious leader to question a person’s faith.

“For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful,” he said at a campaign stop in South Carolina, which holds a key primary tomorrow. “I am proud to be a Christian, and as president I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened.”

Mr Trump also raised the prospect of the Islamic State extremist group attacking the Vatican, saying that if that happened, “the pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president because this would not have happened.”

Mr Trump, a social media mastermind, also retweeted several messages pointing out the giant wall surrounding Vatican City.

Perhaps fearing the fallout could damage his chances the God-fearing state, Mr Trump last night struck a more conciliatory note. telling a TV audience in South Carolina that Pope Francis was a “wonderful guy” who was doing “a very good job”.

“I have a lot of respect for the Pope. He has a lot of personality and I think he’s doing a very good job, he has a lot of energy,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

He said the pontiff was misinformed when he criticised the proposed wall, because he was not aware of the drugs coming in and the other security problems that made a strong border a necessity.

Mr Trump has no political experience but has shot to the front of the Republican race for the White House, winning the New Hampshire primary after coming second in Iowa, the first state to vote in a long election race leading up to November’s presidential election.

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