Donald Trump appears to be backing away from his response to Pope Francis' criticism of Trump's immigration policy heading into Saturday's U.S. Republican presidential primary election in (the southeastern state of) South Carolina.
After visiting Mexico, Pope Francis criticized Trump, saying he "is not Christian" because of his proposal to build a massive wall on the southern U.S. border with Mexico to keep out migrants headed to the United States.
During a town hall discussion Thursday night in South Carolina, Trump suggested Pope Francis' comments may have been overblown.
"I don't like fighting with the pope, actually. I don't think this is a fight. I think he said something much softer than was originally reported by the media. I think that he heard one side of the story, which is probably by the Mexican government. He didn't see the tremendous strain that you know the border is causing us with respect to illegal immigration, with the drugs pouring across the border...."
Some of Trump's challengers expressed support for the pope.
But others mostly said the matter is between Pope Francis and Trump.