Donald Trump on Thursday called remarks by Pope Francis “disgraceful,” after the pontiff argued the Republican White House hopeful could not claim to be a Christian based on his anti-immigrant stance.
“For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful,” Trump said in a statement that he read out to a crowd at a campaign stop in South Carolina, which holds its primary vote on Saturday.
“I am proud to be a Christian and as president I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened.”
The comments framed an extraordinary public exchange between a candidate and the leader of the Roman Catholic church in the run up to a US presidential election.
