Donald Trump Dials Down Tone, Says he does not like ‘fighting with the pope’
For what might seem like the first time since Donald Trump began his campaign for presidency, the billionaire businessman has soften his tone against someone who publicly disagreed with him.
The Republican frontrunner has addressed his feud with Pope Francis, which started after the pope suggested that a man who "thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not of building bridges is not a Christian." Trump has vehemently stated that once he becomes president, he will build a U.S. - Mexican border.
While speaking with CNN on Thursday, Trump said, "I don't like fighting with the pope actually -- I don't think it's a fight, I think he said something much softer than originally reported by the media. I think that he heard one side of the story, which is probably by the Mexican government."
He added that he thinks Pope Francis is "a wonderful guy."
Prior to this statement, Trump had called the religious leader's decision to question someone's faith "disgraceful." He also said, "If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS's ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President because this would not have happened."
When Trump's GOP opponents were asked about Trump's initial reaction to the pope's words, all of them chose to remain neutral.
Jeb Bush stated, "I just don't think it's appropriate to question Donald Trumps' faith."
John Kasich, the governor of Ohio, ""I'm not even sure I'm qualified to criticize or comment on remarks from this man."
"That's between Donald and the pope, I'm not gonna get in the middle of that," Texas senator Ted Cruz said.
The small feud between Trump and the pope could have affected Trump's poll numbers leading up to South Carolina primary. According to the NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll, Trump will still win but by a much smaller margin of around five percent. A poll conducted in January had Trump winning by a two-digit number.
