Sean Hannity thought he was lining up a clean shot at the pope. Instead, he walked straight into a buzzsaw.
The Fox News host leapt to Donald Trump’s defense this week amid the president’s escalating feud with Pope Leo XIV — and decided, for whatever reason, that he should be the one to lecture the head of the Catholic Church on theology.
Yes, really.
On his radio show, Hannity accused the pope of showing “selective moral outrage” over Trump’s war with Iran, even suggesting Leo was “seemingly enjoying this public fight with Donald Trump.”
Then came the pitch — and this is where it went off the rails.
“I think it’s time that he starts to get questioned. Donald Trump takes questions all the time,” Hannity said. “Nobody gets to ask the pope a single thing. And I think it’s time and I would like to offer myself as the person to go interview the pope. I think I’m uniquely qualified. I studied Latin, theology, went to Catholic Church for 12 years. I’d love to interview the pope.”
That didn’t land the way he probably hoped. Because later that night, on his Fox News show, Hannity doubled down — and made it worse.
He accused Pope Leo of being “seemingly more interested in spreading left-wing politics than the actual teachings of Jesus Christ.” He even claimed the pope’s statement that “God does not bless any conflict and certainly doesn’t side with those who drop bombs” was “simply not biblically accurate.”
Hannity’s reasoning? The Bible mentions war. A lot.
“Why is the pope twisting religion to specifically attack only President Trump and the U.S.?” he asked, before tossing in another jab — suggesting Leo is just a “run-of-the-mill Trump-hating Democrat.”
That’s when the backlash hit. Hard.
Critics across social media didn’t just push back — they openly mocked the idea that Hannity was in any position to school the pope on Christianity.
Jon Favreau, former Obama speechwriter and host of Pod Save America, didn’t hold back:
“MAGA elites are now regularly delivering lectures about the teachings of Jesus Christ to…the Pope,” he wrote. “This is not ‘I disagree with the Church on X issue.’ This is ‘My personal interpretation of the Gospel is superior to the Vicar of Christ.’”
Then he twisted the knife: “It’s deranged in a way I didn’t even think was possible for these people.”
Others piled on.
MeidasTouch fired off a blunt jab: “Hannity knows more about Catholicism than the Pope.”
Author Assal Rad echoed the disbelief: “‘The actual teachings of Jesus Christ,’ which Hannity thinks he knows better than…The Pope?”
This wasn’t just a political disagreement. It was a cable news host positioning himself as a higher authority on Christianity than the leader of the Catholic Church — and doing it while defending Trump.
Turns out, taking on the pope isn’t as easy as it sounds — especially when your argument boils down to “trust me, I went to church.”
Watch the video below:
Hannity: Pope Leo is seemingly more interested in spreading left-wing politics than the actual teachings of Jesus Christ. Why is the pope twisting religion to only attack Trump? Why did he recently meet with top Obama advisor David Axelrod and J.B. Pritzker? Is it because he is… pic.twitter.com/aBhhXVPn9P
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 17, 2026
