It's been pretty well established that conservatives are not enamored with Pope Francis, and will be even more upset with the pontif because he was not happy with Donald Trump's campaign pledge to build a massive wall at the border. He's so disgusted by Trump's plans that he questioned if Trump really is a Christian, which is something Ted Cruz would have loved to use to his advantage, except that he's for building a wall too.
It didn't take Trump long to respond to the Pope, and his opening started like he was a stand up comic.
Trump: ...the Mexican government fed the Pope a tremendous amount of stuff, Trump is not a good person....can you imagine I just got a call as I was walking up here, "Mr. Trump, the Pope just made a statement about you. I said, the Pope!...What did the Pope say, I like the Pope. Was it good or bad , cause if it's good, I like the Pope, if it's bad I don't like the Pope.
He went off the topic for a while and then came back to his statement regarding the Pope's comments.
Trump: I guess this is a little bit for the press, so I just wrote this out, very quickly about the Pope, do you want to hear it? Should I read it to you? He actually said that maybe I'm not a good Christian, or something, it's unbelievable and not a nice thing to say. So as a response
"If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows it ISIS' ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president. Because this would not have happened if ISIS has been eradicated..."
Trump went on to describe how ISIS' main goal is to ransack the Vatican, and then he pasted that together with ISIS. Conservatives have been linking the immigration debate to the Mexican border and the supposedly thousands of super secret sleeper Muslim agents that are crossing the border to kill you while you sleep.
So far in the Trump campaign, he's been able to attack anyone or anything he wants and has not been hurt by his bombastic and AM talk radio style. I doubt he's take on Pope Francis as viciously as he has Jeb and Cruz so I doubt he'll get any blow back. And, if anything, the Pope's words will further fuel the xenophobes that are supporting Trump's candidacy.
