'Glad he’s dead': Here’s the great 'irony' behind MAGA fury at Pope Francis

When Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday this week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted on the social platform X, “Evil is being defeated by the hand of God."

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter said, “Good job, JD,” jokingly suggesting that Vice President JD Vance, the last foreign leader to meet the pope before his death, bore some responsibility for it.

In an article published in Politico Friday, journalist Jamie Dettmer wrote that this "venom" from MAGA after the Pope's death is not surprising.

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"MAGA stalwarts never hesitate to use personal invective and hyperbole to smear and intimidate — it’s their way of grabbing attention while seeking to break opponents and discipline institutions that won’t bend the knee, whether church, university or media outlet," he wrote. "And Francis, who was no friend to populist nationalism, certainly infuriated them."

The article notes that Benjamin Harnwell — a close associate of former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, who has been working to create a right-wing “gladiator school” at a monastery in Lazio near Rome — wasted no time likening Francis to King Herod, the ancient Roman ruler in Judea who, as recounted in the Bible, ordered the massacre of all male infants in Bethlehem, fearing that Jesus was among them.

In an interview with Politico regarding the aggressive tone of his statements, Harnwell acknowledged that he would be a hypocrite for adhering to “your norms of compassion." He went on to say, “I’m very glad he’s dead.”

"The irony is that MAGA leaders are now marching in lockstep with a deep state — in this case, the Vatican’s cloistered and rigidly doctrinaire insiders, who would like to turn the clock back not just to before Francis but preferably to before John XXIII’s liberalizing reforms of the 1960s," wrote Dettmer, who is the opinion editor of Politico Europe.

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"Francis began skirmishing with MAGA during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term in 2016, criticizing Trump’s plans to build a 'big beautiful wall' along the southern U.S. border. At a Mass in Ciudad Juárez, he said that a 'a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,'" Dettmer wrote.

The writer further said, "Then, in 2017, Francis warned against rising populist movements, cautioning that they could lead to a new Hitler. Noting that Germany in 1933 was the most obvious example of populism in Europe, 'in times of crisis, we lack judgement,' he told Spain’s El Pais newspaper. 'Hitler didn’t steal the power, his people voted for him, and then he destroyed his people.'"

Dettmer notes that while President Donald Trump didn't directly attack him, MAGA figures targeted the pope because they viewed Francis as a major proponent of global progressivism and an adversary to their movement. Among them, Bannon notably sought support from affluent allies in the U.S. and Europe, particularly traditionalist church members unhappy with Francis' reforms and limitations on the Latin Mass. He aimed to purchase the aforementioned Lazio monastery, Certosa di Trisulti, as part of this effort, per the article.

Meanwhile, Catholics globally are getting ready for Pope Francis' funeral this Saturday in Rome. Some conservative Catholics in the United States are sharing their hopes for a new pope and voicing their criticisms of the former pontiff.

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Despite the criticisms, Francis continued to enjoy popularity among conservatives in the U.S A February poll by the Pew Research Center indicated that 70 percent of Republican-leaning Catholics viewed Francis favorably.

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