Pope Leo XIV‘s voting history as a Chicago resident could shed some light on his opinion about Donald Trump, one political data analyst said.
Robert Prevost, who on Thursday became the first American to lead the Catholic church, previously lived in Chicago, where he voted in Republican primaries in 2012, 2014 and 2016, according to records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Prevost also voted in general elections in the first two of those years, as well as in 2018 and 2024.
Matt Knee, chief data officer at conservative data science firm Pulse Decision Science, said that information could hint at Prevost’s views.
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“The fact that he hasn’t voted in a Republican primary since 2016 and, in fact, didn’t vote in the general in ’16—and his public statements—if I had to guess, he certainly would fit the profile of a former or Never Trump-type ex-Republican,” Knee said.
Though Prevost voted in Republican primaries, he was not a registered Republican because Illinois state law prohibits voters from registering with any political party.
Prevost’s social media posts have caused many to read into his political affiliations.
In February, he reposted an article calling Vice President JD Vance—who converted to Catholicism in 2019 as a 35-year-old—“wrong” about his theological justification for the Trump administration’s hardline approach to immigration.
About a month into Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign a decade ago, Prevost shared on social media a cardinal’s op-ed titled, “Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic.”
These posts and others have led some on the right, like Trump whisperer Laura Loomer, to protest Prevost’s ascension.
“He is anti-Trump, anti-MAGA, pro-open Borders, and a total Marxist like Pope Francis,” Loomer argued in a social media post. “Catholics don’t have anything good to look forward to. Just another Marxist puppet in the Vatican.”
