Pope Francis' comments on Donald Trump unlikely to slow down Republican front-runner

The Republican presidential candidate has cleared all previous hurdles, but will his spat with the Pope change things?

Political experts say the battle between Pope Francis and Donald Trump is unlikely to hurt the Republican presidential front-runner. (Getty Images)

Pope Francis, inadvertently or not, inserted himself in American politics on Thursday when he indicated that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was not a Christian because of his views on immigrants.

Mr. Trump, who last week won the New Hampshire presidential primary, wasted no time in responding to the Pope, calling him a "disgrace." But questions arose immediately about whether or not Pope Francis could do what Republicans have been unable to do and sting Mr. Trump's presidential chances.

Political experts say the Pope's comments should have little effect on the Republican front-runner, and could help him in the upcoming South Carolina primary.

"South Carolina's population is only 7 per cent Catholic, far below the national average of 25 per cent," said Larry Sabato, director at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "Many conservative evangelical Protestants also disagree with the Pontiff's views on climate change, immigration and so on.

"In fact, this attack on Trump puts the focus back on Trump's best issue, immigration. I doubt this will hurt Trump."

Pope Francis questioned Mr. Trump's faith when talking about the presidential candidate's oft-repeated plan to build a wall on the United States-Mexico boder.

"A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, an not building bridges, is not Christian," the Pontiff said. "This is not in the gospel."

Mr. Trump responded strongly, saying that "when the Vatican is attacked by Isis, which as everyone knows is Isis's ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president, because this would not have happened."

Political strategist David Axelrod said no one should be surprised by Mr. Trump's response.

"Trump reacted consistent to his brand," Mr. Axelrod said on CNN. "I don't think there's much risk for him to take on the Pope."

Mr. Trump holds a solid lead going into the South Carolina Republican primary on Saturday. A Fox News poll released Thursday shows Mr. Trump leading all candidates with 32 per cent of voters saying they would vote for him. Ted Cruz was second with 19 per cent and Marco Rubio got 15 per cent.

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