We weren’t expecting to see this one on our 2021 bingo card: Texas U.S. Rep. and would-be action star Dan Crenshaw is praising the pope.
The way ol’ Crenny tells it, the “woke” are yet again attempting to cancel Christmas.
“So, it turns out, if you try to cancel Christmas, you’re going to have some serious blowback — from the pope,” the Texas Republican said in a video posted Monday by The Hill.
Pope Francis, 84, warned of the dangers of “ideological colonization” during a flight to the Vatican earlier this month. Speaking with reporters, he slammed an internal document from the European Union that directed officials to use more inclusive language.
The European Commission advised staff to avoid assuming that everyone celebrates Christmas, according to Politico.
“Not everyone celebrates the Christian holidays, and not all Christians celebrate them on the same dates,” the document read. It also suggested trading sentences like “Christmas time can be stressful” for “holiday times can be stressful," according to that outlet.
The European Commission ultimately clawed back its guidelines after attracting the ire of right-wing politicians. And Crenshaw, who once accused the media of being anti-Christian, praised the pope for likening the EU’s inclusivity efforts to certain dictatorships.
"This is what so many dictatorships have tried to do throughout history. Think of Napoleon, think of the Nazi dictatorship and the Communist dictatorship," the pope had said. "It is something that historically has not worked."
The Argentina-born religious leader went on to say that the European Union should respect each country’s unique identity and refrain from becoming “vehicles of ideological colonization.”
“Perfect response,” Crenshaw said in his video exalting the pope’s slam-dunk dig. “Moral of the story: Don’t let the woke cancel Christmas.” (Of course, the pope did cancel pre-Christmas celebrations in Rome last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, but that probably gets a pass.)
Still, some Republicans may want to cancel their pope subscription after all.
Later in the same interview, the pope was asked about remarks he’d made about the state of democracy worldwide. Referring to the Nazis as the “great populism of the last century," he said democracy is a “treasure of civilization” that's being imperiled by the return of populism.
Although the pope diplomatically left out specific leaders’ names, one prominent U.S. populist leader comes to mind.
Merry Christmas!