Pope Francis's criticism of Donald Trump is only going to help the billionaire developer in his quest to win the GOP presidential nomination — so much so that Trump owes the Pontiff a big debt of gratitude, political commentator Michael Reagan tells
Newsmax TV.
"I would imagine that right now Donald Trump is writing the biggest check he could ever write and donating it to the Catholic Church," Reagan, the son of President Ronald Reagan, said Thursday to J.D. Hayworth on "Newsmax Prime."
"He probably woke up this morning and said, 'you know, yesterday I dominated the news cycle with this lawsuit against Ted Cruz. Wouldn't it be great if the Pope said something about my Christianity so I could dominate it today?' I mean that's exactly what's going on."
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Earlier, the Pontiff assailed the GOP presidential frontrunner’s views on immigration — including his plans to deport illegal immigrants and build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border — as "not Christian" in a chat with reporters. In turn, Trump said it was "disgraceful" Francis had questioned his faith.
Reagan, a Newsmax contributor, said it is unprecedented for a world leader of the Roman Catholic Church to inject himself into a presidential race.
"No, the Pope never gets involved, he shouldn't get involved in political situations. He did — and Trump is the winner," Reagan said.
He added that it’s a "foregone conclusion" Trump will win Saturday’s South Carolina primary.
"The battle is for second and third [place] … who's going to be able to stay on until they get to like a Miami, until they get to Ohio, until they get to Super Tuesday in the first part of March," Reagan said.
"So the battle is for second and third, it's not for first."
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