‘How Pathetic’: Rubio Brings the Wrong Gift to the Pope While Cleaning Up Trump’s Papal Feud — and the Pontiff’s Savage Response Has Folks in Stitches
President Donald Trump shocked the world on Easter Sunday when threaten the people of Iran, and if that wasn’t enough, he also began a feud with Pope Leo XIV.
After the pontiff called for an end to Trump’s illegal war in Iran while adding that the POTUS has a “delusion of omnipotence,” the 79-year-old accused the Pope of being “WEAK on Crime” and of hurting the Catholic Church.
He then canceled $11 million in funding for Catholic Charities, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was sent to the Vatican to clean up his boss’s mess.
After the fumble on stage, Rubio was sent, over Vice President JD Vance, to smooth things over between Trump and the Pope. At least that’s how it seems, but he brough the wrong gift.
During the visit to the Vatican in Rome, Italy, on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV and Rubio exchanged gifts. The Bishop of Rome offered an act of peace, but he seemed unimpressed with the secretary of state’s gift.
The pontiff gave Rubio a pen made of olive wood and said, “Olive being, of course, the plant of peace.”
The pope is the first American to lead the Catholic Church, and the Chicago native reportedly is a White Sox fan.
However, instead of a baseball, Rubio gifted the Holy Father a crystal football paperweight. After noting that the football had the seal of the State Department engraved on it, Rubio quipped, “What to get someone who has everything?”
A video of the awkward exchange was shared on Threads, and the internet was undefeated as they mocked Rubio for his inapt gift.
View on Threads
One user replied in the comments what many folks wondered, “Why not a baseball. He’s from Chicago,” Another echoed, “He says I know you’re a baseball guy but here’s a football what a moron.”
Many joked that the crystal football looked like something found on the backseat of a plane or at a gift shop in the airport. Last-minute, second thought.
“How fucking useless. Just like Rubio,” replied one social media user. Another speculated that maybe it was a purposeful dig, “Which was probably the point.”
Critics noticed the obvious aggression Trump was sending by way of Rubio, saying, “A glass football for the Pope, how pathetic!”
“Nothing says peace like a breakable glass football which is a game of aggression and fighting. Well done Little Marco!” said one person. Another blasted, “That was a direct diss to the Pope. I hope he threw it in the trash.”
“Could have been worse. They could have sent Vance instead. We all know how that worked out for the last Pope.”
Vice President JD Vance, who jointly met Pope Leo with Rubio in the Vatican last year, was sidelined for this meeting in favor of Rubio amid Vance’s own critique of the pope during a Turning Point USA event. In a shocking moment, Vance — a former atheist who adopted Catholicism in 2019 — claimed to know more about Catholic doctrine than the pope.
“I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” he cautioned the leader of the Catholic Church.
After Trump was asked last month why he was fighting with the pontiff, the president did what he does best — he lied and claimed that he wasn’t fighting with Pope Leo, despite evidence to the contrary.
“I’m not fighting with him,” he claimed before doubling down and lying again. “The pope made a statement. He says Iran can have a nuclear weapon. I say Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon… so I can disagree with the pope. I have a right to disagree.”
However, Leo never said Iran should have nuclear weapons.