Republican White House hopeful Donald Trump cannot claim to be a
Christian, Pope Francis said Thursday, after the billionaire vowed to
build a border wall to keep out immigrants.
“Anyone, whoever he
is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian,”
the pontiff told journalists during his return journey from a trip to
Mexico in response to a question about Trump’s anti-immigrant stance.
“Vote, don’t vote, I won’t meddle. But I simply say, if he says these things, this man is not a Christian,” he said.
His remarks drew swift condemnation from the outspoken Republican presidential candidate, who described them as “disgraceful”.
Trump has gained in popularity by claiming Mexico is sending criminals
and rapists over to the United States, and last week he accused the pope
of visiting the border between the two countries at the bidding of the
Mexican government.
“Am I an instrument of the Mexican government? I leave that to your judgement, to the people to judge,” Francis said.
Trump,
the brash real estate tycoon from New York, has promised to end illegal
immigration by building a wall along the Mexican border.
His
first TV ad, which was unveiled on Monday, uses footage that shows
migrants fleeing Morocco to the tiny Spanish enclave of Melilla in 2014.
The
Mexican-US border stretches more than 3,100 kilometres (1,950 miles),
but only around a third is marked by high-security fencing.
“When
Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best… They’re sending
people that have lots of problems… They’re bringing drugs. They’re
bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people,”
he said in June.
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