The newly elected Pope Leo XIV hails from Illinois, where he is registered to vote and therefore has a record of the elections in which he cast a ballot.
Turning Point USA president Charlie Kirk posted Thursday on social media platform X, shortly after Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elevated to pope, “He’s a registered Republican who has voted in Republican primaries when not living abroad.”
“Our data shows he’s a strong Republican, and he’s pro-life,” he added.
Based on the images Kirk posted, Pope Leo XIV voted in last fall’s general election, though not in 2016’s or 2020’s. He did vote in 2016’s Republican primary.
SCOOP: Our Turning Point Action team pulled the voting history for Pope Leo XIV.
He’s a registered Republican who has voted in Republican primaries when not living abroad.
Our data shows he’s a strong Republican, and he’s pro-life. pic.twitter.com/q9q6hiokiH
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 8, 2025
Kirk elaborated in a video posted to social media that the pope ran a pro-life group at Villanova University.
“Overall, it seems like he’s a pro-life warrior. There’s a lot yet to learn about this pope, but I hope that he will be a strong advocate for strong borders and for sovereignty,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV: Registered Chicago Republican and pro-life warrior OR Open borders globalist installed to counter Trump? pic.twitter.com/1kKnaAdCNT
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 8, 2025
Do you think the new pope will make a significant difference for American Catholics?
Kirk concluded, “Some people are saying he’s super liberal. We know he was a registered Republican. Time will tell.”
While a cardinal, Prevost made some posts on X in opposition to some of the immigration enforcement actions that the Trump administration has taken.
For example, he reposted a Catholic commentator’s April 14 post that criticized a White House meeting in which the subject of a Salvadoran deportee was raised, saying “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?”
As Trump & Bukele use Oval to 🤣 Feds’ illicit deportation of a US resident (https://t.co/t80iDMbBKf), once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC Aux +Evelio asks, “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?” https://t.co/jTradMfr0v
— Rocco Palmo (@roccopalmo) April 14, 2025
The post was referring to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s Oval Office meeting with Trump last month, during which Bukele said he had no intention of returning Salvadoran citizen Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to his home country in March.
When questioned by CNN’s Kaitlin Collins concerning the matter, Bukele responded, “I suppose you’re not suggesting that I smuggle a terrorist into the United States. Right? How can I return him to the United States? … I’m not going to do it.”
The Trump administration has argued that Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 member, engaged in human trafficking, and battered his wife.
Prevost also posted a 2015 story written by then-New York Archbishop (now Cardinal) Timothy Dolan, critical of the way Trump spoke about illegal immigrants.
Cardinal Dolan: Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic http://t.co/GVEbTbOVwu
— Robert Prevost (@drprevost) July 31, 2015
In February, Prevost called out Vice President J.D. Vance for saying a Christian’s first priority should be to protect his family over “the rest of the world.”
JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others https://t.co/hDKPKuMXmu via @NCRonline
— Robert Prevost (@drprevost) February 3, 2025
The then-cardinal wrote, “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
So Pope Leo XIV clearly has some differences with the Trump administration on immigration.
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