Axelrod Denies Meeting with Pope Leo XIV Was Precursor to Obama Summit

David Axelrod, former senior advisor to President Barack Obama, has issued a statement dismissing speculation that his recent audience with Pope Leo XIV was arranged to pave the way for a potential meeting between the pontiff and the former president.

“To be clear, I was gratified and honored that Pope Leo XIV granted my request for an audience and thrilled to spend some time with him last week,” Axelrod wrote on social media platform X. “It was scheduled months ago and unrelated to any prospective meeting with President Obama.”

The clarification comes amid growing tension between Pope Leo and the Trump administration over the pontiff’s criticism of U.S. military actions in Iran and Venezuela. Conservative commentator Hal Lambert suggested on CNN that the Pope’s recent statements were politically motivated, pointing to Axelrod’s April 9 meeting with the Chicago-born pontiff as evidence.

“David Axelrod goes and visits Pope Leo last week. They’re talking about Obama going to visit. Pope Leo is from Chicago. All of a sudden, now Pope Leo is out attacking Trump and the policies of the United States and Israel,” Lambert said during a CNN panel discussion. “Axelrod is the chief strategist for Obama. The Pope was saying he’s not political. Why is he meeting with the chief strategist for both Obama’s campaign and in the White House?”

Despite Axelrod’s denial of any coordination, former Obama-Biden White House staffer Christopher Hale has indicated there are “early talks” about arranging a meeting between Obama and Pope Leo. The potential summit would come at a time of heightened rhetorical exchanges between the Vatican and the Trump administration.

The day after meeting with Axelrod, Pope Leo appeared to directly criticize U.S. military policy, posting on X: “God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.” He added, “Military action will not create space for freedom or times of Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.”

The Vatican’s comments followed remarks by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who had drawn religious parallels to a recent U.S. rescue mission in Iran, describing a downed airman being rescued on Easter Sunday as “a pilot reborn.”

Trump responded forcefully to the Pope’s criticism, calling him “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” in a post on Truth Social. “Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church,” Trump wrote.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Lambert maintained his skepticism about the timing and purpose of Axelrod’s Vatican visit. “It’s not about when it was scheduled. It’s about why? David Axelrod is a powerful Democrat political strategist. That’s his job for the past 30 years. Millions of people would like a private audience with the Pope, but he is meeting with a powerful strategist for the opposition party to President Trump,” Lambert said, adding, “This is all about the midterms and trying to turn Catholics against President Trump and Republicans.”

For his part, Axelrod told Fox News Digital: “As a Chicagoan, I’ve been eager to meet Pope Leo from the moment he stepped out on the balcony. My admiration for him as a great moral leader has only grown since. The audience, which I requested, was scheduled months ago. No one sent me and the only mission I was on was to visit with him and pay my respects.”

The controversy comes as Trump faces criticism from Christian leaders over an AI-generated image he posted on social media that many interpreted as depicting himself as Jesus Christ. Trump later deleted the image, claiming he thought it showed him as a doctor supporting the Red Cross.

As of publication time, neither the Vatican nor Obama’s representatives had responded to requests for comment on the matter.