Lawmakers had agreed not to reach out for handshakes from Pope Francis as he entered the House chamber, so it was a pointed and deliberate move when the Pope saved his only handshake for Secretary of State John Kerry.
The Pope knows Kerry from his recent work on the Iran deal, but this is also a profound shift for Kerry. Josh Lederman of the AP pointed out that Kerry was once denied communion over his support for choice for women.
.@JohnKerry, once denied communion over his support for abortion rights, gets a rare handshake from the pope as he enters House chamber
— Josh Lederman (@joshledermanAP) September 24, 2015
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Lawmakers were urged to not use the Pope’s speech for partisan cheerleading, as it should be. But it shouldn’t go unnoticed that the Pope honored John Kerry for his historic work on the Iran deal — a deal Republicans have been trying to destroy since negotiations started.
Listen to Sarah on the PoliticusUSA Pod on The Daily newsletter podcast here.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Connect with Sarah on Post, Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.
