Social media users swear JD Vance killed the Pope
Social media users are convinced that JD Vance actually killed the Pope. While this is highly inaccurate, the memes created by netizens about the conspiracy are hysterical.
Image by Getty/Vatican Pool
Social media users are convinced that JD Vance actually killed the Pope. While this is clearly not the case, the memes created by netizens about the conspiracy are hysterical.
“Was JD Vance the last person to see the Pope alive?” one X user said under Vice President JD Vance’s X post.
The responses to this comment are too vulgar to report, but many people are attempting to debunk the conspiracy that JD Vance killed the Pope.
Well, that’s what the quasi-Anonymous group seems to think.
Pope dead after shaking Vance's hand.
undefined Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) April 21, 2025
Pope Francis died a few hours after shaking JD Vance's hand. Inside sources report the faint smell of sulfur during the Trump regime US delegation visit. pic.twitter.com/2cDXSTcxv8
Pope Francis was the head of the Catholic church and sovereign of Vatican City for roughly 12 years until his death on Easter Monday, 2025.
Coincidentally, JD Vance met with the Pope the day before his death, on Easter Sunday.
Today I met with the Holy Father Pope Francis. I am grateful for his invitation to meet, and I pray for his good health.
undefined Vice President JD Vance (@VP) April 20, 2025
Happy Easter! pic.twitter.com/SIhU9gYQl2
Why did JD Vance see the Pope?
Initially, the Pope brushed off a Saturday meeting with JD Vance, who had travelled to Italy with his family.
Eventually, the pair had a “brief meeting,” which lasted only a few minutes, according to Vatican News, the official news portal of the Holy See.
There was an “exchange of views” on the state of the world, especially focusing on “countries affected by war, political tensions, and difficult humanitarian situations,” Vatican News reports.
JD Vance and the Pope also supposedly spoke on the migrant crisis, refugees, and incarcerated individuals.
On Easter Sunday morning, shortly after 11:30 am at the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis had a brief private meeting with the Vice President of the United States of America, JD (James David) Vance. https://t.co/ZMvrb7d9YL
undefined Vatican News (@VaticanNews) April 20, 2025
Pope Francis critical of Trump for years
It’s been reported that over the years, Pope Francis has been critical of the Trump administration, particularly its treatment of migrants.
Specifically, when Trump threatened to “build a wall” on the border of the United States and Mexico, Pope Francis said, "a person who thinks only about building walls... and not of building bridges, is not Christian.”
Therefore, with all of this information, some netizens deduced that JD Vance’s visit to meet the Pope roughly 24 hours before his death must mean that JD Vance was responsible in some way.
Did JD Vance kill the Pope?
In short, no. There is no evidence to suggest that JD Vance killed the Pope.
The vice president issued a public statement via X on the Pope's passing, saying that “I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill.”
I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him.
undefined JD Vance (@JDVance) April 21, 2025
I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days…
While it’s highly unlikely that JD Vance eliminated the Pope, users want to believe that he did it, and they’ve got the memes to prove it.
Man, this is no meme. Jd Vance killed Pope Francis. pic.twitter.com/SmILpJdSDJ
undefined altofcontrol (@altofcontrol) April 21, 2025
Cybernews saw many X and Instagram posts that depict the vice president as “The Grim Reaper” and other symbols of death.
Other users have taken the trend a little far and suggest that the Pope disliked JD Vance and the Trump administration so much that he ended his own life.
This is completely false as Pope Francis died of a stroke and heart failure at the age of 88.
Others said that the Pope spent his last hours on Earth to “give mass, shit on JD Vance, and pray for Gaza.”
Pope Francis really used his dying breathe to give mass, shit all over JD Vance, pray for Gaza and he died the same day Jesus resurrected pic.twitter.com/pj6aqUZ3Cm
undefined vids that go hard (@vidsthatgohard) April 21, 2025
And of course, netizens also brought up President Donald Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which JD Vance famously said “have you said thank you once,” to the Ukrainian President for support from the US.
Other notable memes are JD Vance labeled “video,” and Pope Francis is labeled “radio star.” This meme derives from the famous song “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles.
Not the first time Vance has become a meme
Online memes seem to readily find their way to the vice president, with previous examples depicting JD Vance as an entitled man-child struggling to control his temper tantrums.
JD Vance’s meme lore spans back to March 2025, when the vice president was criticized dog piling on Zelenskyy during his visit to the White House.
The memes showed the vice president as an overly confident, full-cheeked man-child, proliferated on social media following his meltdown in the Oval Office.