Pope Francis passed away at 88 on Easter Monday, April 21. While the whole world was mourning the great religious leader, people couldn’t stop themselves from noticing that this happened after the Pope met with JD Vance.
There were whispers here and there, but then JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg came up with what everyone else was thinking.
Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy, is known to troll Vance and his wife. He tweeted that “JD Vance killed the pope.” After that, the whole internet went crazy. His tweet went viral, and the social media platform was flooded with all kinds of memes and jokes.
Okay JD killed the pope
— Jack Schlossberg (@JBKSchlossberg) April 21, 2025
The tweet was obviously exaggerated. However, the statement capitalized on a surge of internet sentiment that painted Vance in a largely unfavorable light. Soon after, the hashtag “#antichrist” went viral, highlighting how strongly the public reacted.
JD Vance has not been a public favorite in the last few months. With his derogatory and offensive comments for everyone who dares speak against his overlord, he has been a public target. This tweet by Jack gave people just the push they needed to vent out.
Even his awkward meeting with the Pope made the headlines. Vice President Vance made a high-profile visit to Pope Francis on Easter Sunday. It was the day before the pontiff’s death and served as the push for these rumors.
Pope Francis survived a double pneumonia but not a five minutes meeting with JD Vance.
— Комісаp (@Casfetera) April 21, 2025
Vance is a Donald Trump loyalist who has publicly defended his immigration policies. However, the Pope has been a vocal critic of such measures. It added political stress to the meeting. The meeting was supposed to represent discussion and diplomacy. However, it has now become a focal point for political and cultural commentary.
Breaking: Pope sends letter to US bishops decrying mass deportation and rejecting “any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.” The true ordo amoris, he says, is the ethos of the Good Samaritan.https://t.co/jFEGjw0r7U pic.twitter.com/h3CNlU2cp6
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) February 11, 2025
JD Vance offered his sympathies to all those mourning the death of Pope Francis. He also reflected on their meeting in a public statement. He noted the Pope’s deteriorating health and called the meeting “deeply meaningful.” He also cited the Pope’s Easter homily as one instance that particularly affected him.
Just as he posted this tweet, viral memes and jokes took over the platform. All posts that somehow linked JD Vance with the Pope’s passing started to go viral. Some memes used religious and cultural references and depicted the meeting between the two in catastrophic terms. Others sarcastically suggested that Vance’s mere presence was too much for the elderly Pope. This theory was what the internet needed to make a viral post.
Pope Francis, 88, Dies 7 Hours After Meeting Alleged Antichrist JD Vance https://t.co/zJJ64dopNs
— Jezebel (@Jezebel) April 21, 2025
People online quickly seized onto Jack Schlossberg’s dramatic framing. Everyone knows it was ridiculous to hold Vance responsible for the Pope’s passing. Yet the mummification of the incident gained popularity. Thousands of people liked and retweeted posts that featured pictures of Vance and Pope Francis with titles like “Death by diplomacy” and “Too based for the Vatican.”
There were even suggestions that JD Vance’s “energy” might have accelerated the 87-year-old Pope’s demise.
While this may not be true, it is interesting to see how the tides of social media turn just for a few likes and chances of going viral. However, we can neither confirm nor deny that JD Vance was not at the epicenter of this incident.
