'No, he won't': MSNBC host Ali Velshi blows up Trump's latest 'artificial' dream
Following the death of 88-year-old Pope Francis, the Vatican is considering its possibilities for a successor. President Donald Trump, on Tuesday, April 29, joked that his "number one choice" for the Catholic Church's next pope is himself.
Later that day on X, formerly Twitter, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) humorously posted, "I was excited to hear that President Trump is open to the idea of being the next Pope. This would truly be a dark horse candidate, but I would ask the papal conclave and Catholic faithful to keep an open mind about this possibility!"
Although Trump and Graham were joking, some MAGA Republicans are taking the idea seriously. Trump, however, isn't Catholic; he is a Mainline Protestant who was raised Presbyterian in Queens.
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MSNBC's Ali Velshi examined the "Trump for Pope" campaign in a Saturday, May 3 commentary, laying out some reasons why he finds the idea ridiculous.
Showing an AI-generated image that depicts Trump as a pope, Velshi asked viewers if Trump will become the next pope. Answering his own question, Velshi said, "No, he won't. That dream is as artificial as that image that he posted."
Velshi continued, "While it appears Trump has been baptized, it was as a Presbyterian. And he said, near the end of his first term, that he is now a nondenominational Christian. God bless."
The MSNBC host noted that "technically, the only qualification to be pope is that you must be male" and a "baptized Catholic."
"So in theory, you don't even need to be a cardinal to become pope," Velshi explained. "But the last time a non-cardinal was pope was back in 1378, when the Italian Archbishop Bartolomeo Prignano — who has been a monk — was controversially chosen from outside of the college of cardinals. And he became Pope Urban the 6th."
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