While many Democrats are celebrating the election of Pope Leo XIV as a middle finger to President Donald Trump, there’s likely at least one person with mixed feelings: the Pope’s brother, Louis Prevost.
Prevost, the pope’s eldest brother who ives in Port Charlotte, Florida, told The New York Times in a recent interview that his brother’s election came as a shock, joking, “Jeez, it was like just yesterday, I was throwing him down the stairs. And now he’s pope!”
Prevost told the Times that while he and his brother Robert disagreed sometimes—he told the paper he isn’t as much of a pacifist as his brother, for example—he still thinks that his brother will be “a little more conservative“ than his predecessor, Pope Francis.
What we already know of Pope Leo’s views suggests that while he may be more conservative than Francis, he’s also just as unlikely to align with his brother’s political views.
A quick scroll through the pope’s X/Twitter feed reveals that the now-pontiff retweeted several posts critical of the Trump administration prior to his election, including an opinion piece criticizing Vice President JD Vance’s approach to Christianity.
His brother, meanwhile, has made no secret of his support for Trump, using his personal Facebook page to share countless MAGA memes and screeds.
Among his reposts are a video of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) from 1996 with the caption, “These f—ing liberals crying about tariffs is just unreal. Do they not know that there is a thing called video? Just listen to what this drunk c–t has to say in the mid=90’s long before her husband had grindr dates.”
Other reposts include a meme showing a mental institution with the caption, “Where the woke lived before the ’70s,” and a post invoking the power of prayer to insult Democrats with the caption, “Please pray for the 33% who approve of Biden, that they be healed of their mental affliction.“
Prevost doesn’t shy away from offering his own commentary, either, writing in one post that his friends should “Keep [their] powder dry,“because there is a “war right here at home, a war for our streets and neighborhoods.“
In another, he calls for Democrats who met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be arrested for treason, and in another, he suggests the U.S. return to a policy of isolationism, letting Europe “go their own way into complete socialism and ultimately communism.”
Unlike his sovereign brother, the older Prevost appears to be a fan of Vance, posting a status after his debate against Gov. Tim Walz, “J.D. was phenomenal debating Tim Walz and the moderators. Very knowledgeable and well spoken. He will make a great VP and then, a great President.”
A common theme of many of his posts is that the Democratic Party is overrun with communists; in one post, he asks people when they‘re going to realize that “Harris and the dems are going to take down the U.S.A. and be proud of it,“ while in another, more shocking post, he argues that, “Back in the earlier days of our country, before lefties took over and ruined our schools, all these lefty dems would’ve been tarred, feathered and rode out of town on a donkey, or worse, shot or strung up for screwing with people’s lives so much.”
Highlighting just how different he is from his younger brother, Prevost even once went so far as to liken Trump to Jesus Christ, telling one of his friends, “Maybe you should go to one of his rallies, talk to other real people. Maybe even meet him if you‘re lucky. I did. Incredible man. Not comparing him to or saying he is like Christ, but both seem to be suffering the same treatment at the hands of the evil ones.”
Other posts Prevost shared included pro-Elon Musk memes, anti-vaccination content, memes comparing Biden to Hitler, and posts calling into question the results of the 2020 election that saw President Joe Biden beat Trump, echoing the rhetoric espoused by January 6 rioters.
He also shared multiple posts decrying “illegal aliens,” including posts calling for Trump to build the wall. This also puts him at odds with his brother, whose most recent retweet is an article comparing what immigrants and refugees in the U.S. are experiencing under Trump to The Passion of Jesus Christ.
In his interview with The New York Times, middle brother John said of his younger brother’s views on the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, “I know he’s not happy with what’s going on with immigration. I know that for a fact. How far he’ll go with it is only one’s guess, but he won’t just sit back. I don’t think he’ll be the silent one.”
Taking a break from the MAGA memes and anti-communist manifestos, Prevost made a rare reference to his brother in a July 2023 post, congratulating him on his selection as cardinal by Pope Francis, writing, “Woke up this morning on my birthday and found out my brother was one of the 21 announced as new Cardinals by Pope Francis today. Congratulations Rob!”
While he hasn’t made a public Facebook post since the news broke, Prevost told the Times that he thinks his brother will do a “bang-up job” as the Holy Father.
