Pope's FL Brother Goes 'Full Trump' Online
Pope Leo XIV, May 2025. Photo by Edgar Beltrán of The Pillar under CC BY-SA 4.0.
As the incense cleared in St. Peter's Basilica and cameras zoomed in on Pope Leo XIV blessing a crowd of 100,000, millions of screens flashed with something far less divine — a vulgar meme on Facebook. The timing? Impeccable. The author? None other than the new pope's 73-year-old brother, Louis Prevost.
Prevost, a self-described "MAGA type" living in coastal Florida, according to the Huffington Post, has managed to stir up a storm just days into his younger brother's historic election as the first American pope. And while Leo XIV has used his new platform to preach unity, Louis has spent years on social media blasting "Trump Derangement Syndrome," slamming female politicians, and mocking trans parents, according to the Independent.
Now, his posts are igniting a firestorm the Vatican can't ignore.
Two Brothers, Two Very Different Missions
Louis Martin "Lou" Prevost isn't new to political Facebook rants. A self-described "MAGA type" living in coastal Florida, according to the Huffington Post, he has managed to stir up a storm just days into his younger brother's historic election as the first American pope.
His timeline is filled with commentary that veers sharply to the right. According to the Independent, Prevost called Nancy Pelosi a "drunk c---" in a reposted clip and described Democratic voters as mentally afflicted.
These were the digital breadcrumbs he dropped long before his brother became pope — but now they've turned into landmines. Meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost, appears cut from a different cloth. His tone since the election has been measured, even conciliatory. In one of his first public addresses, he urged the world to build "bridges" and also to use the media to "say no to the war of words and images," according to the Chicago Sun Times.
That message rang hollow to some as screenshots of Louis's now-deleted posts went viral.
When Family Pride Meets Public Fallout
Louis Prevost insists he didn't expect the scrutiny. "I had no idea that what was coming was coming this soon," he told Piers Morgan, according to the Guardian. "And I can tell you since then I've been ... biting my tongue about some of the stuff that is out there on social media."
But once the smoke began to rise, Prevost quickly shifted into damage control, deleting most of his social media history and vowing to "tone it down," according to the Guardian. He says no one at the Vatican has contacted him — "yet." But the tension is unmistakable.
On one hand, Louis says he doesn't want to create "grief" for the pope, according to the Independent.
On the other hand, he hasn't exactly disavowed his past behavior. In fact, he likened his online antics to Trump's, a deliberate attempt to "stir the pot" and enjoy the pushback, according to the Daily Beast.
This is the paradox facing the Vatican — how to honor the humanity and complexity of the pope's family without letting that complexity become a public distraction.
Vatican Optics in the Social Media Age
If Pope Leo hoped to start his papacy with a clean slate, his brother's digital trail is making that difficult. While Leo has spoken out on immigration and the moral obligations of the Church, including pushing back on policies from President Trump and JD Vance, Louis has gone the other direction, praising Elon Musk, mocking progressive causes, and calling for the arrest of Democrats who oppose Trump.
Additionally, at a time when the Vatican is grappling with how to address LGBTQ+ inclusion and modern family structures, Louis's posts — including some that call parents of trans kids "s-----," threaten to overshadow any progress the Church hopes to make, according to the Chicago Sun Times.
Louis's love for his brother is clear. He's spoken warmly about Leo's childhood in suburban Chicago, their shared Catholic upbringing, and even teased that he once told Leo, "Who the hell would want that job?" before the papal conclave, according to the Chicago Sun Times.
But that affection is now tempered by the reality that every comment he makes could ripple far beyond Port Charlotte, Florida. In the past, popes could shield their family from public scrutiny. Today, a relative's Facebook page can become global news. And that's the tightrope the Vatican must now walk.
The Church's leadership has not made any official comment on Louis Prevost's online behavior. Yet the episode raises the larger question of whether the pope's message of unity cut through the noise when his own family has become a magnet for division?
References: Pope Leo XIV’s brother scorches trans people, female politicians and anti-Trump Democrats online | Pope's MAGA Troll Brother explains Why He’s a Disciple of Trump | Pope Leo’s brother shares clip calling Pelosi a 'drunk c***' and scolds Dems for having 'Trump derangement syndrome’ | Pope Leo's 'MAGA-Type' Brother Goes To Confession About His Trolling For Trump | Anti-Democratic, anti-trans Facebook posts of Pope Leo brother draw scrutiny
