JD Vance addresses being one of last people to meet Pope Francis before his death

JD Vance addresses being one of last people to meet Pope Francis before his death Source: AP

Transcript

00:00I feel like knowing you were maybe one of the last officials to meet with him before you died.

00:04Yeah, you know, I've thought a lot about that.

00:06I mean, it's pretty crazy, actually.

00:09And obviously when I saw him, I didn't know that he had less than 24 hours still on this earth.

00:13I think it was a great blessing.

00:15But, you know, I think he saw a lot of people.

00:18I think he affected a lot of lives.

00:19And I try to just, you know, remember that I was lucky that I got to shake his hand

00:23and tell him that I pray for him every day because I did and I do.

00:27But has his death caused you at all to reflect on the policies of the Trump administration in any way?

00:32Well, I think that obviously a lot of people, especially in the American press,

00:36want to make the Holy Father his entire legacy and even his death about American politics.

00:41I think he was obviously a much broader figure than the United States of America.

00:45He represents over a billion Catholics worldwide.

00:48Yes, I'm aware that he had some disagreements with some of the policies of our administration.

00:52He also had a lot of agreements with some of the policies of our administration.

00:55I'm not going to soil the man's legacy by talking about politics.

01:00I think he was a great Christian pastor, and that's how I choose to remember the Holy Father.