Fox News Pastor Claims Trump Understands the Bible Better Than the Pope Then This Old Video Resurfaced

on



It started with a bold claim on Fox News. Robert Jeffress, the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas and a longtime Trump ally, was defending the president amid a growing public spat between Trump and Pope Leo XIV over the U.S. military conflict with Iran.

"The great irony is it looks like President Trump has a better understanding of what the Bible teaches about the role of government than the Pope has," Jeffress declared confidently during the interview. "And I'm glad the president hasn't backed down at all."

Within hours, the internet had a response in the form of a decade-old clip.

The 2015 Interview That Keeps Coming Back

The footage in question is from a 2015 interview during Trump's first presidential campaign. At the time, Trump had been leaning heavily into his faith, repeatedly calling the Bible his favorite book even joking that The Art of the Deal was only his second favorite.

So when a reporter asked him to name even one or two of his favorite Bible verses, things got uncomfortable fast.

"I wouldn't want to get into it, because to me, that's very personal," Trump said, visibly sidestepping the question. When the interviewer pushed further, he doubled down: "The Bible means a lot to me but I don't want to get into specifics."

Even a basic follow-up Old Testament or New Testament? didn't get a straight answer. Trump stumbled through a vague response, calling the Bible "just something very special" without offering anything more concrete.

Social Media Had a Field Day

Once Jeffress's Fox News comments began circulating alongside the resurfaced clip, social media users didn't hold back.

"The heathen has probably never even opened a Bible, nevermind reading a verse," one X user wrote. "Narcissists believe in nothing but themselves."

Another chimed in: "I know more Bible verses than this and I'm an atheist." A third simply asked: "Can he even spell Bible at this point?"

The contrast between Jeffress's praise and the actual video was too glaring for most people to ignore.

The Bigger Context: Trump vs. the Pope

Jeffress's comments didn't come out of nowhere. They were a direct response to escalating tension between the Trump administration and Pope Leo XIV over Iran.

Trump sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Italy to personally deliver a message to the Pope, asking him to relay the administration's firm stance that Iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. "Tell the Pope, very nicely, very respectfully, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," Trump told reporters, adding that Rubio was also instructed to remind the Pope that Iran had killed over 42,000 protesters.

When the Pope appeared to push back without directly naming Trump delivering a speech about the world being "ravaged by a handful of tyrants," Trump responded sharply. He called the pontiff "weak on crime" and accused him of "endangering a lot of Catholics" by seemingly giving Iran a pass on the nuclear question.

Jeffress Defends the President With a Theological Argument

Rather than staying out of it, Jeffress stepped in with a theological defense of Trump's position, drawing on Romans 13 to argue that governments have a God-given responsibility to protect their citizens from harm.

"The Pope is a good man. He's sincere in his faith, but he is sincerely wrong when it comes to Iran," Jeffress said. "God created both the church and government for two distinct purposes. The role of the church is to point people to faith in Jesus Christ, but the role of government is to protect citizens from evildoers."

He also revealed that he had been in the Oval Office with Trump just days after the conflict with Iran began, along with other faith leaders. According to Jeffress, Trump told the group that Iran was within weeks of acquiring a weapon powerful enough to destroy Israel, destabilize much of the Middle East, and pose a serious threat to the United States.

The Irony Isn't Lost on Anyone

Whether you agree with Trump's Iran policy or not, the optics here are hard to spin. A pastor publicly crediting Trump with superior biblical understanding only for an old clip to resurface showing the president unable to recall a single verse from his self-described favorite book is the kind of moment that writes its own punchline.

The debate over Trump's faith has followed him for over a decade, and clips like this one suggest it's not going away anytime soon.

Comments

Post a Comment