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Bowen Yang calls JD Vance a 'Pope Killer' on The View

Bowen Yang calls JD Vance a 'Pope Killer' on The View

Bowen Yang saying pope killer on The View tv show alongside Pope Francis in a wheelchair meeting with JD Vance April 2025
ABC; Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images

Bowen Yang on The View; Pope Francis meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance.

The SNL comedian had the cohosts of The View laughing out loud.

Bowen Yang has a new nickname for the U.S. Vice President.

Yang, who stars in Saturday Night Live and the new movie The Wedding Banquet, made an appearance on The View Thursday morning and made the hosts lose their composure when he dubbed Vice President JD Vance "a pope killer" for his last-minute meeting with Pope Francis before the pontiff died on Easter Monday.

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Yang was on The View talking about his new movie The Wedding Banquet, where he stars opposite Han Gi-chan, Kelly Marie Tran, and Lily Gladstone as a commitment-phobic man whose boyfriend sets up a green card wedding with their lesbian friend.

Out's review said the movie "reaches new career heights" for filmmaker Andrew Ahn (Spa Night, Fire Island) and added that "no other movie at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival moved me or made me laugh" like it.

However, it was while talking about his starring role on SNL, where he plays characters like The Iceberg that sank the Titanic, Moo Deng, and of course, Vice President JD Vance, that he really let loose.

After admitting that he "thought there would be better people" to embody Vance on the show, Yang revealed that he worked with an accent coach to develop an accent "between Ohio and Appalachia."

"You nailed it," one of the hosts said.

"Thank you! I mean he's — look, the guy's a pope killer, okay?" Yang replied.

Yang's new title for Vance immediately had all five hosts cracking up, with Whoopi Goldberg turning away from the camera, and laughing, "someone had to say it," and Sara Haines exclaiming, "There's our new headline!"

"He doesn't mean it literally, Joy Behar added, "He's talking spiritually."

Pope Francis, who died Easter Monday at the age of 88, had met with JD Vance briefly on Easter Sunday, less than 24 hours before he died.

"Obviously, when I saw him, I didn't know that he had less than 24 hours still on this Earth," Vance said of the meeting, per The Hill. "I think it was a great blessing. But, you know, he saw a lot of people. I think he affected a lot of lives. And I try to just remember that I was lucky I got to shake his hand."

Watch Bowen Yang's interview on The View below.

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Mey Rude

Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.

Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.