SANTEE, S.C. -- Donald Trump found himself in a political dispute Thursday with Pope Francis, who said the businessman's proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is un-Christian.
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," Francis told reporters Wednesday. The pope's comments were first made public on Thursday.
Trump, speaking with supporters at Kiawah Island, S.C., said it is "disgraceful" for the pope to question his religion, and that the pontiff received bad information about him during a recent trip to Mexico.
Mexican government officials "obviously got to the pope," Trump said. "He doesn't know me ... the Pope heard only one side of the story."
The Republican front-runner, who is the favorite to win the South Carolina primary on Saturday, told his supporters that "I am a Christian and I am proud of it," and also attacked the Mexican government for "using the pope as a pawn."
Francis told reporters he is not trying to get involved in the U.S. presidential campaign, but objected to some of the things Trump has said about immigrants, including claims that the Mexican government is sending rapists and other criminals over the U.S. border.
“I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that,” Francis said. “We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt.”
On the stump and in a written statement, Trump said the pope appears to be unaware that a leaky U.S. border is creating problems of crime, drug trafficking, and undercutting the wages of U.S. workers. He also noted that the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has targeted the Vatican.
"If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President," Trump said in his written statement.
The flap between Trump and the pope took place just two days before South Carolina's pivotal Republican primary.
One of Trump's opponents, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, said he didn't want to comment because he had not seen the pope's statement in full.
While he has "tremendous respect and admiration" for the pope, the Florida senator said that "I'm an elected official of the United States in the federal government, and our number one obligation is to keep our people safe and our immigration system is a part of that."
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush also declined to weigh in on the Trump-Francis dispute, telling reporters regarding his primary rival: “His Christianity is between him and his Creator.”
