ATHENS, Georgia (AP) ā Fresh from a marathon trip to Pakistan that for ending the , Vice President JD Vance jetted to this Georgia college town for a campus tour organized by the conservative powerhouse Turning Point USA.
But instead of showcasing the youthful to return President Donald Trump to the White House less than two years ago, there was a mostly empty arena, awkward questions and unusually sharp criticism.
The event affirmed Trump’s difficulty selling the war and how much heās complicated his own political fortunes by assailing Pope Leo XIV and posting a social media meme that depicted himself as Jesus.
āI did vote for Trump. I am not a Trump supporter anymore,ā said Joseph Bercher, a Catholic who said he was glad that Leo has expressed opposition to the war with Iran.
Bercher said the Jesus meme, which the president took down Monday after a was a āred flagā indicating Trump’s true character.
āHe sees himself as like a demagogue or someone to be worshipped,” Bercher said.
C.J. Santini, a recent graduate of Liberty University, an evangelical school in Virginia, said he didn’t have an opinion on whether Iran was truly close to manufacturing a nuclear weapon and thus needed to be attacked. But he laughed and shook his head when asked about Trump attacking Leo.
āItās just stupid. Stupid,ā he said, calling it a ādistractionā from Trumpās agenda in Iran and at home.
Mostly empty arena contrasts with 2024 rallies
Many of the college-age attendees donned Turning Point attire, Trump hats and red-white-and-blue paraphernalia for the event. Yet they were outnumbered more than 2-to-1 by empty seats in what is not even the largest arena on this sprawling campus that sits about a 90-minute drive from downtown Atlanta.
A Marine veteran who served in Iraq, Vance acknowledged that not all young conservatives are enamored with another U.S. war in the Middle East.
āIām not saying you have to agree with me on every issue,ā Vance told the young crowd. āWhat Iām saying,ā he added, āis donāt get disengaged.ā
The vice president took questions from Turning Point executive Andrew Kolvet instead of Erika Kirk, who began leading the organization after Charlie Kirk. Kolvet said Erika Kirk canceled her plans to be on stage because of unspecified threats she had received.
Vance, whose presence ensured significant Secret Service and other law enforcement protection around the venue, said heād been worried that the event would be canceled altogether.
Kolvet asked Vance directly about the war and Trumpās back-and-forth with Leo. Audience questions were more aggressive. Vance jousted with at least one heckler over the war in Gaza, and he was pressed by another person over the administrationās handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case files.
In the audience, even some of Vanceās sympathetic listeners offered caveats and critiques.
āThe pope needs to stay out of politics,ā said Jessie Williams, a Methodist. But he noted his mother is Catholic, and he said he understands why Catholics recoil at Trump calling the pope āweakā and suggesting that the first U.S.-born pontiff was chosen only as a counter to Trump.
Williams called Trumpās meme distasteful.
āI donāt like it, but itās ā what can we do?” Williams said. “Heās a grown man, heās gonna do what he wants.ā
Blake McCluggage, a Baptist, said he did not approve of the meme or Trumpās profane Easter Sunday message that threatened widespread destruction of Iranās civilian infrastructure.
The threat, plus Trumpās follow up message that a āwhole civilizationā would die, , with the pope calling the presidentās comments ātruly unacceptable.ā
However, McCluggage said, āyou can still be a Republicanā despite disagreeing with Trump.
Vance adjusts his comments about the pope
A day before coming to Georgia, Vance tried to laugh off the meme as a joke that āa lot of people werenāt understanding.ā The vice president also seemed to echo Trumpās assertion that Leo should concentrate less on global affairs.
āIt would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of whatās going on in the Catholic church and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,ā Vance said in a Fox News interview.
On stage in Athens, he shifted his arguments, saying he welcomes Leoās comments even if he disagrees with them.
āAt the very least, it invites conversation,ā said Vance, who converted to Catholicism as an adult.
Still, Vance questioned Leo anew, pushing back specifically at the popeās Palm Sunday assertion that God does not hear the prayers of those who make war. Leo was quoting scripture from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. Vance asked whether God was on the side of Allied forces in World War II as they liberated Jewish survivors of Nazi extermination camps.
āI certainly think the answer is yes,ā Vance said. When Leo mixes global affairs and complex theology, Vance said, āitās very important for the pope to be careful.ā
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