Primary Calendar
Latest Polls
Campaign Finances
Control of the House
Congressional Maps
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
A New Worry for Republicans: Latino Catholics Offended by Trump
In 2024, the president made significant inroads with Hispanics. But in a competitive Arizona congressional district, voters now express dismay at his feud with the pope.
Parishioners praying after service at the St. Augustine Cathedral on Monday in downtown Tucson, Ariz.
Credit...
Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times
A New Worry for Republicans: Latino Catholics Offended by Trump
In 2024, the president made significant inroads with Hispanics. But in a competitive Arizona congressional district, voters now express dismay at his feud with the pope.
Parishioners praying after service at the St. Augustine Cathedral on Monday in downtown Tucson, Ariz.
Credit...
Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times
Supported by
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Listen
· 9:53 min
Share full article
By
Jennifer Medina
Reporting from Tucson, Ariz.
April 24, 2026
When Stuart Sepulvida arrives at St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Parish in Tucson, Ariz., for Mass, which he attends most mornings, he passes a display honoring local soldiers and encouraging parishioners to pray for their safety. Hundreds of small cards record their names: Robles, Arenas, Grajeda. A portrait of Pope Leo XIV hangs across the lobby.
Mr. Sepulvida, 81, is a Vietnam veteran whose patriotism and Catholicism are deeply intertwined. He voted for President Trump three times but has never felt more betrayed by an American president than when Mr. Trump denounced Pope Leo as “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy.”
“It was very disturbing to me to hear both of them clashing like they did,” Mr. Sepulvida said, standing outside the church one morning this week. Now, he is reconsidering whether he will vote Republican this year.
The Republican Party is struggling to hold onto the support from Hispanic voters who helped
propel Mr. Trump back into the White House
in 2024. Yet as many party leaders have acknowledged the urgent need to stop the
backsliding among Latino
s, the president has enraged many of even his strongest supporters by clashing with the pope.
On Easter Sunday
, Pope Leo, the first U.S.-born pontiff, spoke of the need to “abandon every desire for conflict, domination and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars.” Within days, Mr. Trump, who has led the United States into a war with Iran, said the pope was “catering to the radical left” and posted an AI-generated image portraying himself as a Jesus figure. Mr. Trump later deleted the image, saying he thought it depicted him as a doctor.
“It just isn’t what a president should do,” Mr. Sepulvida said. “The pope speaks for his people. He is beyond politics.”
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and
log into
your Times account, or
subscribe
for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber?
Log in
.
Want all of The Times?
Subscribe
.
Related Content
Advertisement
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
댓글
0