A New Hampshire state representative who has gone on the record as a Donald Trump supporter called Pope Francis “the anti-Christ.”
Susan DeLemus posted one of her favorite biblical psalms to Facebook last Thursday. When a commenter asked if she had seen the volly of insults between Trump and the pope from earlier in the week, DeLemus replied, “The Pope is the anti-Christ. Do your research.”
She continued in another comment: “I’m not sure who the pope truly has in his heart.”
Francis, without specifically mentioning Trump by name, last week answered a question about the billionaire mogul’s plan to build a wall on the Mexican border by saying, “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.”
Trump responded by lashing out at the pope, calling Francis “disgraceful” for questioning his faith.
DeLemus clarified her anti-Christ comment Monday to Politico.
“I was actually referencing the papacy,” she said. “And what I wrote after that ‘do your research,’ if you read the Geneva Bible, which is the Bible I use when we study, the commentary is — actually by the founders of the United States actually, the Protestant Church — their commentary references the papacy as the anti-Christ.
“And I think actually in one part of it, and I don’t remember who it was that wrote it, there was one of the popes that they had referenced as the anti-Christ. So that’s all I was referring to, the papacy, not particularly that one particular pope because the papacy is a seat. It’s not just one person,” she continued.
Though she said she wasn’t implying the pope will “start growing horns and a tail and start poking people,” she still didn’t take kindly to him making assumptions about another person’s relationship with God.
“I’m not Catholic, so I don’t think he’s infallible,” she said. “I believe he’s fallible just like the rest of us. I’m really not a respecter of men. It’s really God I respect, and he’s the head and the leader.”
She said that the religious intensity with which others choose to live their lives is “not really our business,” before explaining her own faith.
“For me, I love Jesus Christ. I believe he is the son of God,” she said. “I love God and I believe I am a saved sinner. That’s who I am. And that’s how I try to live my life. And as you can see I’m completely fallible and human and make mistakes as we all do.”
