Donald Trump Saturday mocked Bernie Sanders' brief meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican earlier in the day — noting that "he was only there five minutes."
"He went to see the pope," Trump told supporters in Syracuse, N.Y.,
CBS News reports. "Five minutes.
"Then he came out. He said: 'We talked about the environment, we talked about global warming, we talked about all these different things.'
"And I said: 'Wait a minute. He was only there five minutes," the Republican front-runner added. "So the pope gave him five minutes.
"I wonder why the pope gave him five. He shouldn't have given him that much time, really."
Sanders, who is challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, spoke at a Vatican conference marking the anniversary of a 1991 encyclical by Pope John Paul II.
He met briefly with the Catholic leader after the session at the Pontifical Academy of Social Science in an unscheduled meeting, CBS reports.
Sanders, who is Jewish, said that he "chose not to do pictures" with the pope because "we didn't want anyone to think this was politics."
Pope Francis said later Saturday that he greeted Sanders out of "politeness," according to the report.
"This is called good manners, not meddling in politics," the pope said. "And if anyone thinks that to greet someone means to meddle in politics, then I suggest that they find a psychiatrist."
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