Politics
NEW: Trump Gets Last Laugh After Liberal Attack Backfires
For days, critics of President Donald Trump were gloating that the leader of the free world would be situated in the third row during funeral proceedings for the late Pope Francis, a possibility that was put to rest when he appeared front and center.
Many of the most boastful were mostly silent after seeing Trump and his wife Melania sitting with front-row seats for the procession on Saturday extending through the St. Peter’s Basilica, a decision that Vatican officials defended as consistent with protocol.
In contrast, former President Joe Biden sat five rows back, a humiliating spectacle for the 82-year-old Catholic just over three months out of the job.
Francis, the church’s 266th pope, passed away last week after suffering a stroke. The 88-year-old had just recovered from a prolonged bout of pneumonia that doctors said nearly killed him twice.
For 12 years, the polarizing papal figure led the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics through some of the religion’s most turbulent chapters, traversing the globe to apologize to victims of clerical sexual abuse and bending the church’s trajectory toward a decidedly liberal path. On multiple occasions, he denounced anti-immigrant rhetoric by political leaders like Trump without referencing him by name.
Their differences in leadership set both men apart, and critics of Trump were all too happy to exploit them in the days after Pope Francis had passed. Ironically, they basked in the possibility that the Catholic leader had left Trump with a parting punishment.
According to the Western Journal, Vatican protocol for a papal funeral requires the late pope’s home country, Argentina, and Italy — the church’s home — to be seated at the front of the procession. Select monarchs and heads of state are then arranged in French alphabetical order, which would have placed President Trump in the third row.
On Monday, those cheering Trump’s potential sidelining were silent.
As a consolation, news outlets portrayed the new seating chart as an awkward one for Trump, given he was placed among European leaders who are “staunch Ukraine supporters.” The president smiled or held a solemn gaze throughout the procession and otherwise appeared unbothered.
When they couldn’t malign Trump for his seating, critics instead contended that he broke with funeral “dress code” by appearing in a blue business suit rather than the traditional black worn by most others. Melania, meanwhile, wore a black dress and a black veil, but neither stayed for the funeral portion of the program; instead, they left the Vatican shortly after the procession.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, no fan of suits, appeared in black military attire, a detail that went unnoticed by anti-Trump commentators across the internet.
“Trump did not even have the decency to wear a black tie, and he wore a blue suit. No respect!!” one social media user wrote in disgust. Another suggested that Trump lacks “class” for his look, the Independent reported.
