Vice President JD Vance was heckled twice during a Turning Point USA college event in Athens, Georgia, on Tuesday, by people criticizing either the war in Iran or American support for Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.
One voice could be heard calling out, “Jesus Christ does not support genocide!” Another voice shouted, “You’re killing children! You’re bombing children!”
Vance addressed the event amid rising tensions between the White House and the Vatican, which in recent days has prompted President Donald Trump to repeatedly admonish Pope Leo XIV for the latter’s anti-war statements.
Vice President JD Vance waves after speaking at a Turning Point USA tour stop at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., on April 14, 2026.
Erik S. Lesser/AP
Vance — who converted to Catholicism in 2019 — cited theology in his defense of U.S. conduct. “When the pope says that god is never on the side of those who wield the sword, there is a thousand — more than a thousand-year tradition of just war theory.”
“I think that it’s important — in the same way that it’s important for the vice president of the United States to be careful when I talk about matters of public policy — I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.”
“If you’re going to opine on matters of theology, you’ve got to be careful, you’ve got to be sure it’s anchored in the truth and that’s one of the things that I try to do and that’s certainly something I would expect from the clergy,” Vance said.
-ABC News’ Claire Brinberg and Hannah Demissie
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