Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “All In” that President Donald Trump “has unleashed a kind of wickedness into the ether.”
Host Chris Hayes asked Warnock about the pope’s ministry following news that the pontiff had undergone surgery to remove a cancerous lobe from his lower right lung. Hayes noted that Warnock, the senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, had preached there for decades and said he wanted to discuss the pope’s broader role in the nation’s moral and spiritual life, as well as his influence around the world since becoming pope.
Warnock said the pope’s voice was especially important during what he described as a pivotal moral moment in the United States. He argued that Trump, whom he called “the most gifted politician I’ve ever seen at dividing us,” had brought “a kind of wickedness into the ether,” making the presence of an American pope particularly significant. Warnock praised Pope Leo for urging people toward “the higher angels of our nature” and challenging what he called a “war mongering president.” He said the pope’s criticism had drawn pushback from Vice President JD Vance, whom Warnock described as perhaps the most prominent and well-known Catholic in politics. Warnock also asked viewers to pray for the pope’s strength and recovery, as well as for the health of the country.
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