The Pope vs The Donald. Who will win?

It’s pretty extraordinary that a leading contender for the American presidency has just effectively threatened the Pope with terrorism. But then, Donald J. Trump is no ordinary Republican frontrunner. Everything about his campaign is outrageous — and that’s why he is winning.

Today, the Pope, returning home from Mexico, told reporters that he thought Trump’s intention to build a wall between America and Mexico was unChristian. Rather than doing what all politicians do, and paying due reverence to the Holy Father, the Donald’s press office decided to reply with the following (Italics mine, to emphasise how Trump would have said it)

‘If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s 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.’

As the journalist Dave Weigel has noted, what is perhaps most interesting is that, in his opening sentence, Donald Trump appears to be conceding defeat in the election.