Overview
- The Late Show opened with a mock Pope Leo XIV rapping over Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us on Thursday, calling President Donald Trump “senile” and repeating the hook “They not pious.”
- The segment mirrored a diss track, with lyrics about Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein and visuals of him wielding a sword and the AI image that cast him as Jesus, which the White House has since removed.
- The sketch followed days of back-and-forth that began when Trump blasted the pope as “WEAK” on Truth Social after Leo urged peace in response to the Iran conflict.
- Pope Leo told reporters he does not “fear” the administration and warned against using religion to justify war, prompting public scolding from Vice President J.D. Vance and other MAGA figures.
- The high-profile spoof shows how late-night comedy can carry a political fight into mainstream culture, a shift that can harden views as audiences rally to their preferred narratives.