JD Vance Explains How It Feels To Be One Of The Last People To Meet With Pope Francis

Speaking to reporters in Agra, India, Vice President JD Vance was asked about being one of the last people to meet with Pope Francis.

Transcript

00:00What does it feel like knowing you were maybe one of the last officials to meet with him before you died?

00:04Yeah, you know, I've thought a lot about that.

00:06I mean, it's pretty crazy, actually.

00:09And obviously when I saw him, I didn't know that he had less than 24 hours still on this earth.

00:13I think it was a great blessing.

00:15But, you know, I think he saw a lot of people.

00:18I think he affected a lot of lives.

00:20And I try to just, you know, remember that I was lucky that I got to shake his hand

00:24and tell him that I pray for him every day because I did and I do.

00:27In his final Easter message that the Archbishop read in St. Peter's Square,

00:33you know, he talked about not stirring up contempt against the vulnerable and migrants

00:37and the logic of fear not being something world leaders should yield to.

00:41Do you have any thoughts on that?

00:43And has his death caused you at all to reflect on the policies of the Trump administration in any way?

00:48Well, I think that obviously a lot of people, especially in the American press,

00:52want to make the Holy Father his entire legacy and even his death about American politics.

00:57I think he was obviously a much broader figure than the United States of America.

01:01He represents over a billion Catholics worldwide.

01:04Yes, I'm aware that he had some disagreements with some of the policies of our administration.

01:08He also had a lot of agreements with some of the policies of our administration.

01:12I'm not going to soil the man's legacy by talking about politics.

01:16I think he was a great Christian pastor, and that's how I choose to...