Pope Leo for president? Meeting with Obama guru sparks speculation

• A recent meeting between Pope Leo XIV and Democratic strategist David Axelrod has sparked political speculation.
• While the American-born pope is technically eligible to run for U.S. president, Canon Law prohibits clergy from holding public office.
• The pontiff has recently criticized President Donald Trump's threats toward Iran, calling them "truly unacceptable."
• Former President Barack Obama has expressed a desire to meet the new pope, who is also from Chicago.

A Chicagoan leader having a closed-door meeting with Democratic strategist David Axelrod the spring before the year's midterm elections is usually seen as a playbook for a big announcement.

Pope Leo XIV's reported confab with the former senior adviser to former President Barack Obama on April 9 stoked all sorts of speculation. Was the pontiff going to formally meet with the 44th president? Announce a new communications strategy?

Or maybe, as some eyebrow-raising posts on social media jokingly teased, foreshadowing a possible papal presidential run?

For instance, when Christopher Hale, a Democratic activist and the author of the Substack site "Letters from Leo," posted to his more than 65,000 followers on X about the pontiff and Axelrod meeting, one user had a bit of fun.

"Pope Leo to visit Iowa, sources familiar say," humorously replied X user Keith Nagy, a communications staffer for California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, to his 31,000 followers, complete with an apparent AI image of the pope in a cornfield.

And, X user ettingermentum, with more than 110,000 followers, cheekily asked in a post on April 11, "Who would be the funniest Dem to win in 2028 and just end up being a really good president somehow?"

"The pope," responded Derek Guy, the noted menswear writer, to his more than 1.4 million followers on X.

Jokes aside, Leo has emerged as a serious critic of the Iran war in recent weeks, boosting his profile on the world stage.

But could the leader of the Roman Catholic Church actually run for president? Especially after Trump called the pontiff "weak" on crime and "terrible" for foreign policy. The pope responded in kind, saying he has "no fear" of the Trump administration.

Since the pope is an American, he would technically qualify under the U.S. Constitution as a natural-born U.S. citizen, at least 35 years old (Pope Leo is 70), and a 14-year resident who could run for U.S. president.

But, don't get any hopes up. It would be almost functionally impossible for Leo to do so because of the church's Canon law that prohibits clergy from holding public office, not to mention the pope being a foreign head of state and the conflict of dual loyalty, Hale told USA TODAY.

"The pope is not going to run for president. He's legally able to, but he’s not going to," said Hale, who oversaw national Catholic outreach for Obama's 2012 reelection campaign. "He's also still a registered voter who voted absentee in the 2024 general election. We just don't know who he voted for."

Besides, it is strongly encouraged that the ordained do not seek public office, said Father Francis X. Clooney, a professor of divinity and comparative theology at the Harvard Divinity School.

"The idea that clerics, people who are ordained, priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes, are pretty much told to stay out of politics," Clooney said. "But, if there are issues for the good of the community, a priest or bishop can speak out, but it’s not likely they would run for any public office."

Clooney recalled Pope John Paul II in 1981 asking then-Massachusetts Rep. Father Robert Drinan, the first Catholic priest to serve as a voting member in Congress, to choose between his congressional duties or his priestly obligations. Drinan was a Democrat who ran on an anti-war platform, defeating 14-term incumbent Philip Philbin, and served for 10 years as a congressman. Drinan was critical of the United States' role in the Vietnam War and introduced the first impeachment resolution against Richard Nixon.

Leo criticizes Trump's Iran war

President Donald Trump is accustomed to criticism from Democrats and even MAGA-aligned media figures, whom he lashed out at in a Truth Social post this past week.

But the English-speaking pontiff has risen as an influential American critic living in the Vatican, using his platform on the world stage as a moral contrast to the president's more bombastic rhetoric and aggressive use of executive power.

Leo's recent public comments on social media criticizing the war, have even led some to speculate whether the president actually threatened him.

Unlike previous popes who offered more general critiques of political and economic systems along with cultural and social values, Leo is being specific. He used his Palm Sunday message to directly address the Iran war, for instance, saying God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” 

That stood in contrast to some conservative U.S. religious leaders, such as the Rev. Franklin Graham, who prayed for victory over Iran.

It should be noted that Pope Leo's worldviews as leader of the Catholic Church would not easily fit neatly into one political party or another in U.S. politics. He has spoken up against the excesses of greed and capitalism, but also has denounced causes held dear by American liberals, including legalized abortion. Prior to becoming pope, he reposted messages and op-eds on X, formerly known as Twitter, that were viewed as being critical of Trump and now Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic. Additionally, public records show he has in the past voted in Republican primaries in Illinois.

However, Pope Leo has described Trump's recent apocalyptic threats to Iran as "truly unacceptable" while speaking to reporters on April 7.

The pope urged listeners to reflect on the "many innocent people" in Iran, including children and the elderly, who have become "victims of this escalation."

He preached for peace, adding, "I would invite citizens of all the countries involved to contact the authorities, political leaders, congressmen, to ask them to work for peace and to reject war always."

Will Obama meet with Leo?

Regarding a possible meeting between the pope and Obama, the former president said a couple of months ago he wanted to meet the pontiff, as they do have some commonalities, like their hometown and a favorite baseball team.

"Being president, or even being an ex-president, I can kind of meet everybody. So, I've met a lot of folks. The person who I have not yet met, and that I'm looking forward to meeting – and I hope I get an opportunity sometime in the future – is the new pope, who's from Chicago, and a White Sox fan," Obama said on Brian Tyler Cohen's podcast in February.

It would not come as a surprise if the former president and the pontiff do meet someday, said Maryann Cusimano Love, politics department chair at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

"I'm certain they have a mutual admiration for each other," Cusimano Love said.

Don't 'read too much into the meeting' with Axelrod

Meanwhile, not much is known about Axelrod's visit with Pope Leo.

Clooney said that "he wouldn't read too much into the meeting."

Axelrod could have been meeting with the pontiff for many reasons, Cusimano Love said. Axelrod and his wife, Susan, are heavily involved in Chicago's Catholic community. Their daughter, Lauren, who has suffered from severe epilepsy since childhood, is a resident at Misericordia, a residential community and Catholic charity of the Archdiocese of Chicago. 

Cusimano Love said while it's tempting for some to see the pope in a presidential light, he wouldn't consider the position.

"The pope's role is much larger than that. He's the leader of 1.3 billion Catholics in 193 countries, a much larger constituency than a president has to contend with," Cusimano Love said. "He's a person for everybody, and the concerns for human life and dignity. Those are values that go across political, religious and cultural lines."

President snaps at Pope; pontiff has 'no fear of Trump administration'

The president snapped at the pope in a Truth Social post on April 12 over the pontiff’s criticism of the war, calling him "weak" on crime and "terrible" for foreign policy.

"I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do," Trump wrote. The president also said the pontiff wouldn’t be in the Vatican if he were not in the White House.

"Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise," Trump wrote. "He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump."

In response, the pope on April 13 told reporters on a flight to Algeria ahead of a multiday tour of several African nations, "I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do."

The pope also said he would continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace. The pontiff added that he thinks someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way.

"I do not look at my role as being political, a politician. I don’t want to get into a debate with [Trump]," the pontiff said. "I don’t think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing."

Contributing: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy

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