Jimmy Kimmel was not impressed by how Secretary of State Marco Rubio handled his meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Thursday.
Rubio visited the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican just days after President Trump’s latest attack on the pope’s character.
Trump had lashed out against the pope in April after the Catholic leader criticized his war in Iran. Earlier this week, Trump falsely characterized the pope as wanting Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and accused the pope of “endangering a lot of Catholics” with his anti-war rhetoric.
The pope has maintained his calls for peace. He told reporters on Wednesday, “The mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace. If anyone wants to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so truthfully.”
In his monologue on Thursday, Kimmel zeroed in on Rubio’s stiff body language during his Vatican meeting. He showed a clip where Rubio awkwardly shook hands with the pontiff, then posed for a picture with him.
The American-born pope managed a small smile for the photo, while Rubio stared blankly ahead.
Kimmel joked, “That’s what Marco calls vibing with someone.”
Kimmel noted that Rubio and the pope had “the chemistry of parents at their daughter’s wedding two months after the divorce.”
“In an embarrassing mix-up, the pope mistook little Marco for a child and baptized him,” Kimmel added.
Zeroing in on Rubio’s expression, Kimmel joked further, “If that’s not a penance face, I’ve never seen a penance face.”
In his meeting with Rubio, the pope gifted the Trump administration a pen made of olive wood, noting that an olive branch is symbol of peace.
In return, Rubio gifted the pope a small crystal American football with the State Department’s seal on it.
“Wow, okay,” the pope replied.
Kimmel didn’t cover the exchange of gifts in his monologue, but fellow late-night host Stephen Colbert argued that the pope’s olive wood pen was the more thoughtful present of the two.
In response to Rubio’s crystal football, Colbert joked, “I smell regift!”
Despite the apparent tension at the event, the Vatican released a statement afterward describing the pope’s meeting with Rubio as “cordial.”
The Vatican’s statement declared, “The shared commitment to fostering sound bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States of America was reaffirmed.”
