Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) suggested that the more than 230 Catholic Cardinals in the conclave “keep an open mind” about considering President Donald Trump for the papacy.
“I was excited to hear that President Trump is open to the idea of being the next Pope,” Graham posted Tuesday on X. “This would truly be a dark horse candidate, but I would ask the papal conclave and Catholic faithful to keep an open mind about this possibility! The first Pope-U.S. President combination has many upsides. Watching for white smoke…. Trump MMXXVIII!”
Graham showed support for the idea after President Trump was asked by a reporter if “he had anyone in mind” to succeed Pope Francis after he died at the age of 88.
“I’d like to be pope,” President Trump joked Tuesday. “That’d be my number one choice.”
Trump added that he had “no preference” on which Cardinal should succeed the late Pope Francis but suggested that Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, would be a good pick.
“I don’t know,” Trump said. “I must say that we have a Cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York that is very good so we’ll see what happens.”
In 2020, Trump told the Religion News Service that he sees himself as a non-denominational Christian after he was “confirmed at a Presbyterian church as a child.”
Cardinal Dolan isn’t on the short list of possible contenders to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Potential Cardinals in the running to be named the next pontiff are from the Philippines, Italy, France, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands and Guinea.
Any baptized Catholic male can serve as pope, provided he becomes ordained and appointed as a bishop before a papal election takes place.
There has never been a pope from the United States however, Francis was the first pontiff from the Americas.
The conclave will begin on May 7, though Cardinals in Rome started having informal discussions ahead of Pope Francis’ funeral.
Around 120 cardinals out of the 138 “princes of the church” are assigned to pick the holy successor within 20 days of a pope’s death.
The Cardinals will write down their choice on a piece of paper during the secretive process in the Sistine Chapel.
They will vote four times a day until a successor is picked, but only the top two candidates will be considered after 30 rounds of voting.
Pope Francis was elected after five rounds of voting in 2013.
He died on Apr. 21, one day after Easter Sunday, after suffering a stroke, the Vatican revealed.
The funeral was held on Apr. 26 in St. Peter’s Square with hundreds of thousands of mourners in the area saying their final farewell.
