Stephen Colbert says Trump's criticism of Pope Leo XIV heralds a 'new circle of hell'

Raechal ShewfeltTue, April 14, 2026 at 4:14 AM UTC

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Stephen Colbert and President Donald TrumpCredit: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS; Julia Demaree Nikhinson - Pool/Getty

Stephen Colbert, of course, took note when President Donald Trump trolled Pope Leo XIV in a social post on Sunday.

"Some embarrassing setbacks for Trump and his team, but Trump did the mature thing and attacked the pope," Colbert told The Late Show audience Monday. "Last night, he posted, 'Pope Leo is weak on crime.'"

Colbert retorted, "Yeah, man: He’s the pope. He visits people in jail." The late-night host theorized that it would "be cool, though, if the pope did fight crime — then we could watch, Murder, She Pope."

"Trump cyberbullying the pope just unlocked a new circle of Hell," the show's Instagram account captioned video of Colbert's monologue. He described Trump's lengthy post as "unhinged." In it, Trump took the religious leader to task for speaking against the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran.

"Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician," Trump wrote in part. "It's hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it's hurting the Catholic Church!"

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Per NBC News, the pope's response to Trump's haranguing was, "I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the church is here to do."

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He continued, "We are not politicians, we don't deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the gospel, as a peacemaker."

Colbert also joked about Trump having said Leo did not "sit well" with him.

"Nothing sits well with you!" Colbert said, as images of the president sitting and looking uncomfortable appeared onscreen. "All your sitting looks like clinical depression on a toilet."

Colbert noted that the situation is unprecedented.

"According to one Italian religious historian, 'Not even Hitler or Mussolini attacked the pope so directly and publicly,'” Colbert said of the quote Massimo Faggioli, an expert on the papacy, had given to Reuters. "It's never great when someone says, you should really be more discreet and respectful — you know, like Hitler."

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

on Entertainment Weekly

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