Jimmy Kimmel seemed thrilled to hear that Chicago native Robert Francis Prevost, now going by the title Leo XIV, has been chosen as the new pope. Kimmel’s favorite part, it seemed, was just how upset MAGA pundits are by the news.
In his Thursday monologue, Kimmel showed a recent post on X from Trump adviser Laura Loomer declaring, “Catholics don’t have anything good to look forward to. Just another Marxist puppet in the Vatican.”
Kimmel also shared a post from The Federalist chief executive Sean Davis complaining that the new Pope had “trashed Trump” and “trashed Vance” on social media.
Kimmel, however, believed there was a deeper reason for these pundits’ outrage:
“Right-wing social media is losing its collective mind,” Kimmel said. “Because the new pope cares for the poor and the sick and the plight of immigrants, and they don’t like that at all.”
Kimmel shared a post from right-wing commentator Matt Wallace reading, “I was considering becoming Catholic. Not anymore.” The post received some mock sympathy from the crowd.
“What a loss for the Faith,” Kimmel quipped.
The late night host also doubted that President Trump’s polite early statements about the new pope will continue.
“Wait till he finds out how many times this new pope has criticized him,” Kimmel said. He later joked, “Trump just hit the Vatican with an 80% tariff on pointy hats.”
Over at The Daily Show, recurring host Desi Lydic was similarly thrilled about the new pope news.
Highlighting a recent X post from Pope Leo disagreeing with Vance’s immigration stance, Lydic joked, “The new Pope does not like JD Vance. He really is an everyday American.”
Referencing the many joke rumors of Vance supposedly killing Pope Francis, Lydic warned Pope Leo, “Be careful though, Father: if you piss off JD Vance, he’s gonna pay you a visit.”
