CNN Thinks They Know Why Trump Started Attacking Pope Leo—And Yep, That Certainly Tracks

Last month, NBC News released the results of a poll conducted February 27-March 3, 2026, by Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies that measured the feelings of United States voters towards a variety of people, organizations, and concepts.

Respondents were asked if they felt very positive, somewhat positive, neutral, somewhat negative, or very negative towards each. People featured were Pope Leo XIV, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert.

Other items listed were artificial intelligence, sanctuary cities, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and the nation of Iran.

No one had a higher positive response than Pope Leo XIV (42%) or a lower negative response (8%). Only Iran (61%) and ICE (56%) had a higher negative response than Trump (53%).

@christopherjhale/Bluesky

The poll results looked at net positive feelings (% positive - % negative) to determine the favorability of public sentiment for each.

The Pontiff garnered a +34 favorability rating. Only Colbert—whose talk show will be ending in May—also got a net positive favorability rating with a +10.

Trump garnered a –12 favorability, putting him behind Pope Leo, Colbert, Representative AOC, Rubio, Vance, and sanctuary cities.

While the results were reported in early March by primarily parochial media outlets...

@catholicnewsworld/Bluesky

...the poll largely flew under most people's radar amid the mounting tensions and attacks between Israel, the United States and Iran.

But maybe the poll was not missed by a man obsessed with his own popularity—a man who has been known to data mine social media and the internet at large for any mention of his own name.

Last week, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten brought up the month-old poll results as a possible reason why Trump began aggressively attacking Pope Leo online and in comments to the press.

You can see Enten lay out his theory here:

Enten said:

"You know, maybe President Trump is jealous of Pope Leo XIV, because it is a blowout. It is a blowout!"

"It's not even close. Pope Leo XIV absolutely crushing President Trump... and I will note that Pope Leo was the most popular person tested by NBC News."

Of Trump's spate of attacks after the poll results were released, Enten stated:

"I believe the president is making a humongous mistake going after the most popular guy in America."

"The president has been struggling with Catholics. And I must say, in my expert opinion, I'm not quite sure that going after the pope is the way to recover with Catholics."

Enten concluded:

"The bottom line is this. The pope is emblematic of Catholics here in the United States."

"The pope is far more popular with the American public than Trump is here in the United States... [Trump is] losing a lot of ground, and this ain't gonna help."

People thought Enten's theory was sound.

People pointed out the poll came before Trump's infamous social media rant about Pope Leo...

...and the subsequent "AI Trump as Jesus" kerfuffle.

A Gallup poll in July of 2025 returned similar results. That poll showed a net favorability of +46 points for the Pope compared to -16 points for Trump.

Where Trump's popularity is now will have to wait for the next poll—but, according to Enten, it's probably not good.