Graham tells Pope Leo ‘you’ve got this all wrong’ on Iran war

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Monday told Pope Leo XIV that he has “got this all wrong” on the U.S.-Israeli conflict in Iran, which he has openly criticized and thus drawn rebuke from President Trump.

Graham addressed the pope during an interview on “Hannity” on Fox News, telling the head of the Catholic Church that he’s “a good, holy man,” but he does not “understand the evil of Iran.”

“The pope –– you are a good man but you’ve got this all wrong,” Graham said. “Trump is doing a good thing, not a bad thing. You’re not going to talk the ayatollah out of giving up his nukes. You’re going to have to make him give up his nukes.”

He said the Catholic Church “didn’t really get Hitler,” referring to Germany’s fascist dictator and head of the Nazi party Adolf Hitler while comparing Iran’s regime to the Nazi regime in his statement to Leo. He said to Leo “you really don’t get this religious Nazi regime, the ayatollah and his henchmen.”

Graham emphasized Israel’s military campaign against Iran as he continued this comparison, saying “one Holocaust is enough.”

“So President Trump,” he said, directing his words to the president, “you saved the world from this regime from having eight to 10 nuclear weapons. They would have used it. These people are nuts, and if you don’t get that, it’s like missing Hitler.”

Leo has been outspoken in his opposition of the conflict with Iran. Trump’s threat last week that Iran’s “whole civilization will die” prompted Leo to respond, calling the Truth Social post “truly unacceptable.” The pope has called for both sides to “return to the negotiating table.”

Trump hit back against the pope on Sunday, calling him “weak” on crime” and claiming that Leo, the first U.S. citizen chosen by a conclave of cardinals to be pope, would not be pope if Trump was not in the White House. The president later said he does not owe the pontiff an apology.

“Because Pope Leo said things that are wrong,” Trump on Monday told reporters in the White House. “He was very much against what I’m doing with regard to Iran, and you cannot have a nuclear Iran. Pope Leo would not be happy with the end result.”

In response, Leo said he is “not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for.”

Vice President Vance, the second Catholic vice president in U.S. history, told Fox News on Monday that “in some cases it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on in the Catholic Church and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy.”

Vance also defended a post on Trump’s Truth Social account that of an AI-generated rendering of a painting depicting Trump as a Christ-like figure. The post was quickly deleted, with Trump saying he thought he was dressed as a doctor, while Vance said it was a “joke” and that it was taken down because the president “realized that a lot of people weren’t understanding his humor” following backlash from Christians and conservatives.

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