Real estate mogul Donald Trump readily admits he’s a Protestant, but he says that Pope Francis “seems like a pretty good guy” and he has “great respect for the Pope.”

Trump’s comments about the Catholic pontiff came this week during an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo when the newscaster asked the GOP frontrunner about the upcoming papal visit to this country in September.

Close

“I actually like him,” Trump said. “He’s becoming very political, there’s no question about it. But I like him.”

But, Trump said he doesn’t think the Pope “is opposed to capitalism.”

Cuomo set up a hypothetical situation in which Trump meets with Pope Francis. “The translator says to you: ‘The Pope believes that capitalism can be a real avenue to greed. It can be really toxic and corrupt.’ And he’s shaking his finger at you when he says it. What do you say in response to the Pope?”

Trump responded frankly, as he always does.

“I’d say ISIS wants to get you. You know that ISIS wants to go in and take over the Vatican? You have heard that — you know, that’s a dream of theirs to go into Italy, you do know that.”

“I don’t think the Pope is opposed to capitalism.”

Cuomo challenged Trump, asking the New York businessman if he meant to scare the Pope. Trump quickly retorted: “Look, the Pope, I hope, can only be scared by God.”

The exchange between them went on as Trump ardently defended capitalism, particularly against evils in the world like ISIS.

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

Trump also acknowledged that capitalism “in our country, Chris, it has not been working properly.”

“Between regulation, between all of the Dodd-Frank, between all of the different things that have been imposed, we aren’t competitive like we used to be,” he said.

Trump was referring, of course, to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act signed into law on July 21, 2010 by President Barack Obama and named after former House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and former Sen. Chris Dodd, then-chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

Trump remained adamant that he doesn’t believe Pope Francis is opposed to capitalism.

“I’ve seen a lot of what he is opposed to, and I don’t think the Pope is opposed to capitalism.”