DaysofPal- Dr. Basem Naim, a senior official within Hamas’s political bureau, has condemned U.S. President Donald Trump, framing the American leader’s recent social media attacks on Pope Leo XIV as a “new peak of tyranny.”
Dr. Naim expressed his position in a post on X, declaring his solidarity with the Pontiff and asserting that the targeting of global religious figures represents a dangerous moral decline in Western leadership. His statement positioned the papacy as a necessary moral bulwark against a “corrupt clique” currently directing U.S. foreign policy.
“Targeting religious figures marks a new peak of tyranny and corruption,” Dr. Naim stated. “Religious leaders and people of goodwill must unite to prevent this corrupt clique from determining the fate of humanity.”
The statement comes in response to a series of recent social media posts by Trump that have drawn criticism for their tone and content directed at Pope Leo XIV. While the exact wording of Trump’s posts has sparked debate across political and religious circles, critics argue that his comments reflect an increasingly confrontational approach toward prominent global figures, including religious authorities.
President Trump ignited the firestorm on Easter Sunday with an unprecedented digital broadside against the first American-born pope. On Truth Social, Trump criticized Leo XIV’s calls for a ceasefire in Iran, labeling the Pontiff “WEAK on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy.”
In a series of posts that shocked Catholic leaders, Trump suggested that the Church only elected an American pope to “deal with” his presidency, famously claiming, “If I weren’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.” The president further escalated tensions by posting an AI-generated image of himself with “biblical powers,” which many religious groups have condemned as sacrilegious.
On Monday, Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, addressed the attacks with a mixture of pastoral resolve and uncharacteristic directness during his flight to Algeria for his third apostolic journey.
“I have no fear of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly,” the Pope told reporters on the papal plane. “To equate my message with the president’s is to misinterpret the Gospel.” I am not a politician, and I will not enter into a debate with him.”
The Pope concluded by reiterating his stance on the “delusion of omnipotence” fueling modern wars, pointedly noting that his mission is to be a peacemaker, not a political rival.
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