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Chicago-born Pope Leo becomes first pontiff to vote in US election after blasting Trump over Iran war and president's treatment of migrants

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Cite

Bowman, R., & Schollenberger, K. (2026, October 30). Chicago-born Pope Leo becomes first pontiff to vote in US election after blasting Trump over Iran war and president's treatment of migrants. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16252693/pope-leo-chicago-midterm-elections-2026-vote.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

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Daily Mail · collected 2026-10-30 · by Rachel Bowman, Katrina Schollenberger

Quick Summary

Pope Leo, born in Chicago, became the first pope to vote in a U.S. election by mail-in ballot for Illinois’ 2026 midterm elections. Previously, he criticized President Trump over Iran and migrant policies. The Holy See confirmed that Pope Leo has cast ballots regularly since becoming eligible as a U.S. citizen, emphasizing citizens' duty to participate democratically.
Written by AI on 2026-10-30, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, Illinois, has become the first pope in history to vote in a US election. On October 3, he requested an absentee ballot from Will County, Illinois, and submitted it by mail ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. The Vatican confirmed this development on Friday, citing Pope Leo's long-standing belief in civic participation. Pope Leo, who is registered to vote at his brother’s address in New Lenox, was elected as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in May 2026 and has maintained ties with his birthplace despite leading the Vatican City, an independent state since 1929 without political elections.

Written for “Pope Leo Votes In US Midterms” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 13 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans strongly left (beta estimate) Confidence high
Leaning: leans strongly left for article 117586 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-10-30

Story

📰 Pope Leo Votes In US Midterms
Politics · 14 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly left and hedges 5% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
CBS News
Hedges 2 of 18 claims Outlet record 66/100
BBC News
Hedges 3 of 14 claims Outlet record 69/100
Fox News
Hedges 0 of 18 claims Outlet record 70/100
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left further right than this Hedges 0 of 10 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Straits Times
Hedges 1 of 14 claims Outlet record 66/100
South China Morning Post
Hedges 0 of 1 claims Outlet record 64/100
CBC News
Hedges 2 of 26 claims Outlet record 60/100
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left further right than this Hedges 2 of 17 claims Outlet record 66/100
ABC News (US)
Hedges 0 of 6 claims Outlet record 70/100
NBC News
⚖️ Leans left further right than this Hedges 2 of 21 claims Outlet record 60/100
“While both articles mention Pope Leo requesting an absentee ballot to vote in Illinois, Article A specifies that the pope has not yet mailed his ballot and is still recovering from surgery, while Article B confirms he voted by mail-in ballot.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
1 of 21 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
68/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
14
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-30 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 8421 article(s) · 20 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 20 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Rachel Bowman
32 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 ' The pope is on the 'list of individuals who requested a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming election,' Kim Fladhammer, chief of staff at the Will County clerk’s office, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
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Also by Rachel Bowman
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 32 articles by Rachel Bowman →
Katrina Schollenberger
4 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 ' The pope is on the 'list of individuals who requested a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming election,' Kim Fladhammer, chief of staff at the Will County clerk’s office, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
🔮 President Donald Trump will travel to Daytona Beach, Florida, today in a bid to rally support for Republicans, as GOP Rep. Byron Donalds runs to succeed Governor Ron DeSantis and faces Democratic candidate David Jolly.
Also by Katrina Schollenberger
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Chicago Illinois Iran United States Vatican

Subjects

Leo PERSON · 9× Trump PERSON · 9× Iran GPE · 6× Chicago GPE · 3× American NORP · 2× Holy See ORG · 1× Illinois GPE · 1× Kim Fladhammer PERSON · 1× United States GPE · 1× Vatican ORG · 1×

Narrative

The post followed Leo having denounced the 'delusion of omnipotence' that fueled the joint US-Israel war in Iran and demanded political leaders stop and negotiate peace. Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St Peter's Basilica on the same day the US and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan during a fragile ceasefire. The Pope didn't mention the US or Trump by name in his prayer. But Leo's tone and message appeared directed at Trump and American officials, who have boasted of US military superiority and justified the war in religious terms.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-30
🔮 ' The pope is on the 'list of individuals who requested a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming election,' Kim Fladhammer, chief of staff at the Will County clerk’s office, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Claims (21 extracted, 1 hedged)

Pope Leo voted in Illinois by mail-in ballot in the 2026 midterm elections, the Vatican confirmed, after lashing out at President Trump for his stance on Iran and migrants. asserted
Vatican → vote → Iran
He has become the first pope in history to vote in a US general election. asserted
He → become → election
The Chicago-born pontiff 'has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen' and has done so 'whenever he was eligible to do so,' the Holy See press office said. asserted
office → bear → citizen
'The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes. asserted
Father → express → processes
' The pope is on the 'list of individuals who requested a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming election,' Kim Fladhammer, chief of staff at the Will County clerk’s office, told the Chicago Sun-Times. asserted
Fladhammer → request → Times
British historian Michael Walsh told CNN this is the first time a pope has voted in a democratic, secular election. asserted
pope → tell → election
The historic move comes after the American-born pope condemned Trump's war on Iran as 'unjust' and criticized the president's threat to destroy Iran's 'whole civilization.' asserted
pope → come → civilization
In a highly-publicized spat, Trump lashed out at the pope on Truth Social in April, calling Leo 'WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,' and stated that 'If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican.' asserted
Leo → publicize → Vatican
The Chicago-born native responded by stating that he had 'no fear' of the administration, and that his efforts were to 'promote peace and multilateral relationships.' Pope Leo has consistently used his platform to hit out at Trump's policies, including mass deportation campaigns and border control. During his first major US television interview in July 2026, the religious figurehead called out the administration for it's 'in humane treatment' of migrants at the US-Mexico border. asserted
figurehead → bear → border
He referenced America's historic 'principles' standing for freedom, opportunity and inviting immigrants into the country. asserted
He → reference → country
'My grandparents were immigrants,' Pope Leo told NBC’s Nightly News at the time. asserted
Leo → tell → time
'On my mother’s side, we have people who were both slaves and slave owners. asserted
who → have → people
There’s a history of, if you will, growing up in the kind of experience that helps me to recognize myself – one of the greatest wealths of the United States. asserted
me → ’ → States
Records show that the pope, a US citizen, is registered as a voter in the Chicago suburb of New Lenox. asserted
pope → show → Lenox
He has cast ballots in both Republican and Democratic primaries and also voted in the 2024 presidential election. In a move that stirred up controversy in April, Trump posted what appeared to be an AI drawing of himself as Jesus Christ healing a sick person, followed by a photoshop of what it would look like if Trump Tower were built on the moon. asserted
Tower → cast → moon
The post followed Leo having denounced the 'delusion of omnipotence' that fueled the joint US-Israel war in Iran and demanded political leaders stop and negotiate peace. Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St Peter's Basilica on the same day the US and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan during a fragile ceasefire. The Pope didn't mention the US or Trump by name in his prayer. But Leo's tone and message appeared directed at Trump and American officials, who have boasted of US military superiority and justified the war in religious terms. asserted
who → follow → terms
The Pope told the thousands gathered in St Peter's Square that the public is 'growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it and becoming indifferent'. asserted
public → tell → it
Speaking from the Vatican balcony, the Pope said: 'Let those who have weapons lay them down! 'Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace! asserted
who → speak → peace
Leo did not specify a conflict within his message, known as the Urbi et Orbi blessing - translated as 'to the city and the world'. asserted
Leo → specify → city
In the 2024 election, Trump won 55 percent of Catholic voters, according to AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate. uncertain
Trump → win → electorate
But Trump’s administration also has close ties to conservative evangelical Protestant leaders and has claimed heavenly endorsement for the war on Iran. asserted
administration → have → Iran
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