Trump voters say the pope should 'stay in his lane' and butt out of the Iran war

Iran warTrump voters say the pope should 'stay in his lane' and butt out of the Iran warTrump supporters at his events in Las Vegas and Phoenix largely backed his attack on Iran and sided with him in his ongoing dispute with Pope Leo XIV.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Guests wait in the entrance line for “Build the Red Wall” event headlined by President Donald Trump in Phoenix on Friday.Jesse Rieser for NBC NewsShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 18, 2026, 6:39 PM EDTBy Peter NicholasPHOENIX — Christopher Brandlin was born Catholic, raised Catholic, went to Catholic school and wore a flag-themed cross over his flag-themed tie for President Donald Trump’s appearance Thursday in Las Vegas.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Yet in the dispute between Trump and Pope Leo XIV over the Iran war, Brandlin believes it’s the pontiff, not the president, who’s in the wrong.Pope Leo is “actually using more politics than he should,” Brandlin, a Republican candidate for a Nevada state Assembly seat, said in an interview.Thousands of people came to hear Trump speak at a Phoenix megachurch, where he sought to galvanize voters ahead of the midterm elections. Jesse Rieser for NBC NewsThe U.S. attack on Iran has pitted church against state, as Pope Leo and Trump clash publicly over the proper means of ending global conflicts. The war has also tested Trump’s most ardent voters, who had relished his past statements that the U.S. needed to avoid costly foreign entanglements.It appeared that the dustup between the two leaders might split the president’s coalition, consisting in part of Christian conservatives who like his opposition to abortion rights, and “America First” voters who believed he would focus on conditions at home.Yet in interviews with more than 20 Trump supporters who attended his event in Las Vegas and his campaign rally Friday at a megachurch in Phoenix, there was little hint of d...