Donald Trump recently sparked controversy with two notable assertions made within a short span of time.
Initially, Trump left many puzzled when he implied involvement in the election of Pope Leo as the new leader of the Catholic Church after Pope Francis’s death the previous month.
Upon the announcement of Pope Leo as the first American pope, Trump commented: “Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope. It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country.
“I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”
In a subsequent post on Truth Social (May 12), Trump suggested that his success with Catholic American voters might have influenced Pope Leo’s election.
“So funny to watch old timer Martha Raditz [correctly spelt Raddatz] on ABC Fake News (the Slopadopolus show!) this morning, blurt out that, effectively, Pope Leo’s selection had nothing to do with Donald Trump,” he wrote, referring to Raddatz’s interview with Cardinal Blasé Cupich on This Week.
“It came out of nowhere, but it was on her Trump Deranged Mind,” Trump added. “Remember, I did WIN the Catholic Vote, by a lot!
“Bob Iger should do something about the losers and haters he’s got on his low rated shows. It’s time for change. MAGA!!!”
Additionally, Trump made another surprising statement by claiming he invented the word ‘equalize,’ a term with a long history.
While issuing a new order to regulate drug prices, Trump remarked at a White House press conference: “The rest of the world is going to have to pay a bit more, and America’s going to pay a lot less. Again, because it is a smaller population than when you think of the whole world.”
He elaborated: “So basically what we are doing is equalizing. It’s a new word that I came up with, which I think is probably the best word. We’re gonna equalize. We’re all gonna pay the same. We’re gonna pay what Europe’s gonna pay.”
Contrary to Trump’s claim, Webster’s dictionary records the word’s origin in 1599…
This left many bewildered, as one person noted: “There was a TV show in the 80s named The Equalizer. Did he invent the word in 1983 and is just reminiscing?”
Another commented: “If he came up with it how does everyone already know what it means lol.”
Someone else humorously added: “Horses**t, a word I just came up with, never used by anyone ever!”