Pope Marks First Visit To U.S. By Visiting Obama At The White House

Pope Francis Meets With President Obama On The First Full Day Of His U.S. Tour. Pope Francis spent the morning of September 23 at the White House on the first full day of his tour of the United States, which will include stops in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Philadelphia. President Obama welcomed the pope on the South Lawn of the White House, where both leaders gave a brief public remarks that saw the pope endorse Obama's climate change agenda. From The New York Times:

With the fanfare of trumpets and a show of solidarity, President Obama welcomed Pope Francis to the White House on Wednesday as the leaders of the world's most powerful nation and the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics declared common cause in tackling global poverty, conflict and environmental degradation.

The pope arrived in his modest Fiat at the South Portico of the White House, where the president greeted him and escorted him onto a red-carpeted stage festooned with red, white and blue bunting and surrounded by color guards. The two leaders listened as a Marine band played the American national anthem and the pontifical anthem.

During brief remarks, the pope waded into two of America's most highly charged political debates, praising the United States as a nation of immigrants and offering a strikingly forceful and explicit endorsement of Mr. Obama's regulatory program to fight climate change. [The New York Times, 9/23/15]

Right-Wing Media Attack Statements From  Pope Francis, President Obama

Daily Caller's Matt Lewis Criticized Obama For Not Mentioning Abortion. Before President Obama had even finished his remarks welcoming Pope Francis to the United States, Daily Caller senior contributor Matt Lewis used the president's call for “compassion” to take a jab at him for supporting constitutionally-protected abortion rights:

“It means showing compassion -- from the marginalized and the outcast, to the unborn.” (Okay, he won't say that.)

-- Matt Lewis (@mattklewis) September 23, 2015 [Twitter, 9/23/15]

Allahpundit: “Ask The Little Sisters Of The Poor” About Obama Supporting Religious Liberty. The anonymous conservative blogger “Allahpundit” tweeted that, contrary to what he said in his speech, President Obama does not actually support religious liberty because his administration opposed a Christian charity group's decision to not follow the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act:

Ask the Little Sisters of the Poor about that https://t.co/9HMvencAxD

-- Allahpundit (@allahpundit) September 23, 2015 [Twitter, 9/23/15]

Free Beacon's Lachlan Markay Claims The Pope Endorsed “The Democratic Party's 2016 Political Platform.” Lachlan Markay of the Washington Free Beacon sounded off on the pope's visit to D.C., claiming that Pope Francis had essentially “endors[ed] the Democratic Party's 2016 political platform” during his comments at the South Lawn of the White House:

“Thank you, Holy Father, for endorsing the Democratic Party's 2016 political platform. You are truly a wise man.”

-- Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) September 23, 2015 [Twitter, 9/23/15]

Katie Pavlich: Pope Promotes “Climate Change Policies That Hurt The Poor.” Fox News contributor and Townhall editor Katie Pavlich suggested that, despite his calls to alleviate global poverty, the pope actually promotes “climate change policies that hurt the poor”:

Pope who claims to stand up for the poor embraces climate change policies that hurt the poor. #PopeInUS

-- Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) September 23, 2015 [Twitter, 9/23/15]

John Notle: Can Cowardly Pope Say One Thing “That Doesn't Suck Up To Communists?” Breitbart.com editor-at-large John Nolte lamented that the the pope had not said “one brave thing” during his remarks and baselessly claimed that the pope space “sucks[s] up to communists” and American media:

Is this Pope going to say one brave thing? Just ONE that doesn't suck up to communists and our media?

-- John Nolte (@NolteNC) September 23, 2015 [Twitter, 9/23/15]

Jim Hoft: Pope Francis Is “Praising Freedom But Promotes Socialism.” The Gateway Pundit's Jim Hoft sounded off on the pope's trip to the United States, claiming that he is “praising freedom but promotes socialism”:

Right Now @Pontifex praising freedom but promotes #Socialism #Weird

-- Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) September 23, 2015 [Twitter, 9/23/15]

Ann Coulter: “This Is Why Our Founders Distrusted Catholics.” Conservative commentator Ann Coulter attacked Pope Francis' economic message by claiming that it was the reason why “our founders... distrusted Catholics [and] wouldn't make them citizens.”:

I'm an American and this is why our founders (not “immigrants”!) distrusted Catholics & wouldn't make them citizens. https://t.co/7IV6J7ODAv

-- Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 23, 2015 [Twitter, 9/23/15]