Mike Johnson sides with Trump and Vance against Pope Leo: ‘You should expect some political response’

NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsMike Johnson sides with Trump and Vance against Pope Leo: ‘You should expect some political response’Mike Johnson said ‘I don’t want to engage in a theological debate with the pope’Eric Garcia Wednesday 15 April 2026 17:46 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2958315","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mike-johnson-trump-pope-leo-vance-b2958315.html","title":"Johnson sides with Trump against Pope: ‘You should expect some political response’"}}CloseJohnson on Pope criticism; 'if you wade into political waters, you should expect some political response'Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_INSIDE_WASHINGTON","regTitle":"Inside Washington","subscriptionGroup":"inside_washington","subscriptionGroupId":"af764e04-87eb-45e6-a84b-a7455ba70a1e","type":"inside_washington","pathPrefix":"/news/world/americas/us-politics","associatedAuthors":["Eric Garcia","John Bowden"],"title":"Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Washington email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/insideWashington1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideWashingtonNews","regSourceSection":"US politics","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"},"is...