Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 05/22/25

Headliner. By being one of the world’s first journalists to have a question answered by Pope Leo XIV and having been recently promoted to the role of White House correspondent by fast-rising news network NewsNation, it’s clear that Robert Sherman‘s career is one to watch. It should be noted that our following conversation took place yesterday – right before President Trump‘s controversial press event with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

JWK:  Let’s start with that viral exchange you had with Pope Leo as he walked by a gaggle or reporters shortly after being chosen. What did it feel like when he chose to answer your question?

Robert Sherman: I gotta be honest, it was kind of one of those situations in which I felt like I was the dog chasing the car. You know, I was really holding onto to hope that I’d get some kind of interaction with him. (I) put out my hand but I didn’t really think that I would become that fortunate and get that lucky in order have that interaction. Then, all of a sudden, he was on the other side of the rope line. He turned around and started walking towards me and my producer. The next thing I knew, I was face-to-face with the Pontiff. Pope Leo XIV was standing right there. He shook my hand and made eye contact with me. I just quickly reacted and asked if he had a message for the United States. He gave me a quick response, saying “Many. God bless to all.” And, just like that, he was gone – but I never once in my lifetime thought that I would even get that kind of an exchange with the Holy Father himself.  

JWK: Were you the first journalist to get such an exchange with the new pope? You were certainly one of the first.

RS: I’m not entirely sure. I know that he was walking down the aisle. I don’t know if anybody else get questions in or if he gave any other comments – but nothing that I’ve seen to this point. 

JWK: Where was he coming from when you spoke to him?

RS: He was hosting this event with reporters. He was inside one of the main assembly halls that they have at the Vatican. He had wrapped the public comments and then started walking down the aisle and greeting the press who were there, shaking a few hands. I was toward the end of the rope line, I would say. I just got very lucky that he came to me. 

JWK: So, you asked him if he had a message for the United States and he responded “Many. God bless to all.” If you got a follow-up question what would it be?

RS: That’s such a good question. If I had extended time, for everyone who we had spoken with (who) wanted to hear some kind of message about how to unify the globe -and that believe that there is divisiveness all across the globe – (I’d ask) what would he say in order to unify people and bring us together? Because it feels as though that’s what people want the most. I wonder if he has any concrete plan or firm message that he wants to articulate because that’s what I hear from people again and again. That’s what I heard from people at Vatican City who traveled there from all over the globe.

JWK: You were recently named White House correspondent for NewsNation, right?

RS: Yes. That’s where I am right now. I’m standing outside the White House as the South African president arrives today.

JWK: Some Trump supporters have expressed concern about the new pope’s previous comments, particularly regarding immigration, that could be perceived as criticism of his policies. From what I gather though, it doesn’t seem to have bothered Trump because he’s suggesting the Pope could host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. How do you see the relationship between Trump and the Pope playing out?

RS: That’s a really good question. I think we’re all waiting to see exactly how all these shoes drop here. I would say that it appears as though Pope Leo has been given an invitation to come visit the White House. So, we’re gonna get some indications on what that will look like. There’s also talk about (Pope Leo) being willing to host some of these negotiations when it comes to brokering peace. What we have heard is that some of the messaging – particularly on the issue of peace – has been rather similar from both President Trump and Pope Leo. Both want the war in Ukraine to end. They both want all the tensions in the Middle East to be lowered. They both want an end to fighting around the globe. It seems they both want the exact same endgame when it comes to all of this. So far, all of the messaging that has come out of the White House publicly is very positive toward Pope Leo XIV, the first pope who was born in the United States.

JWK: One interesting detail that has emerged is that one of the Pope’s brothers, who lives in Florida, is very pro-MAGA. How’d you like to interview him?

RS: That’s a meeting that took place here this week, as well. President Trump was just asked about that as he walked into the Oval Office with the President of South Africa. (He) said that it was a really good meeting and that he really enjoyed meeting the Pope’s brother. Again, there’s a broad invitation for Pope Leo to come here to the White House at some point. We know Pope Francis came to the White House a decade ago to visit with President Obama. So, a lot of people have their fingers crossed that we’re going to see something of the same here in the coming weeks or months.

JWK: Turning to other issues facing the Trump Administration, before you assumed your role as NewsNation’s White House you covered the border, right?

RS: Yes. That’s how I started at NewsNation.

JWK: On that particular issue, Trump has been polling quite well – although there has been debate over the handling of deportations. As you reported, his moving forward with tariffs kind of upset the apple cart a bit and even made some of his supporters nervous. I think he’s gained back some of that support as he’s moderated his position and at least some progress seems to have been made. Objectively speaking, how do you think the President is doing so far?

RS: You know, it seems as though he’s doing a lot of the things that he campaigned on. There have been couple of surprises but there haven’t been too many surprises. He’s talked pretty extensively about his border plan. He laid out the details of it for months on end before the election. He’s talked about this issue of tariffs, on the record, for decades. He talked about welfare reform when he considered a run for the White House. I mean it seems as though he’s doing a lot of the things that he promised that he would do.

(Another) example is the President of South Africa is here today. President Trump has been rather critical of him and so many issues that have been ongoing in South Africa. Now, you have that world leader here at the White House today. It’s very clearly a different White House than it was in 2016 in that you have world leaders taking President Trump very seriously and are making the journey out here in order to have these highly critical, potentially consequential, conversations.

JWK: How’d the meeting with the President of South Africa go?

RS: Well, it’s ongoing right now.

JWK: So, we’ll see how that goes, I guess. 

Talking about NewsNation as a news network, where do you think it fits on the spectrum between the so-called legacy media – which people say includes the New York Times, the broadcast networks, CNN, what have you – and the new media largely made up of bloggers and podcasters? Would NewsNation be somewhere in between those?

RS: What I would say to that is that I think NewsNation fits in perfectly where the need is. At the same time, no one can really seem to fit NewsNation into one of the classic boxes that you hear people, or the media industry, talk about. You always hear, when people talk about other networks, “They’re too far to the left” or “They’re too far to the right.” People really struggle to do that with NewsNation which, I think, means that we’re doing exactly what we need to do. We are bringing the conversation to a place where it hasn’t always gone. That’s to people who feel that they are stuck in the middle and have been left behind by…what’s going on in the country right now.

I look at our air. I mean there are days in which I am starting at six o’clock in the morning east coast time and I’m not done until eight o’clock/nine o’clock at night east coast time. I look at every single hour and I hear a long list of Democratic left-of-center perspectives and I hear a lot of more Republican conservative/right-of-center perspectives. If you take all of the hours in, I think that this is the only cable network in which you have a rather full-circle perspective on many of the issues that are impacting day-to-day Americans without of the noise that disrupts that ability to understand what’s going on.

JWK: I think there’s definitely a yearning for that – but do you think some people on the left and right just want to go to the news sources that confirm their biases and aren’t really particularly interested in hearing about what the other side has to say?

RS: No doubt there are some consumers out there who that is what they’re looking for. They are looking for someone to speak to the perspectives that they already hold and aren’t necessarily looking to have their views on the world change or anything like that. That’s fine. It is a rather large landscape that we have out here today in the media world.

You know, growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, which for years was the constant swing state out there, (and) what I hear from everyday Americans is that they’re looking for that place to go where you will hear a leading left-of-center voice followed up by a leading right-of-center voice, these different views of the world collide, you get to hear the debates playing out and you get the full perspective of what is happening in the day-to-day landscape.

I truly believe (that) right now NewsNation makes the best good-faith effort out of anyone to do that. It’s…a place in which you can really gather an informed perspective. Adding to that, when you see the exposure that NewsNation is getting now, the places we’re going, the way that we’re on the ground in so many of these major historical moments, I really do believe that our place in this landscape is quickly growing in prominence week by week.

JWK: Going forward, what do you see as the really big issues this White House will have to deal with in the months and years to come?

RS: I feel that the biggest issue that this White House is going to face – and is facing right now – is foreign policy. That’s a little biased because I have a foreign policy background but I do believe that it is foreign policy. That’s in multiple forms. When it comes to tariff and trade policy, obviously there’s a lot of work that has to be done in dealing with other countries. I look at the situation in Ukraine. I look at the situation in the Middle East. Those are certainly issues that could create global danger if not handled appropriately. That’s why you see this White House making those making those such top priorities up to this point. I really do believe that when it comes to the big issues that they’re gonna have to face, (and) the biggest challenges that they’re gonna face, they’re gonna be on the foreign policy front. 

JWK: Where do you see both yourself and NewsNation in five years?

RS: I believe that NewsNation in five years is going to be right where you’re starting to see us more and more – which is on the front lines of the biggest stories. You know, whether it’s been our boots-on-the-ground coverage in the Middle East, in Ukraine or where we were just recently covering the papal conclave and the funeral of Pope Francis, you’ll continue to see NewsNation right in the middle of it. I think that is going to continue to happen even more so. I believe that – week by week, month by month, one viewer at at time – people are going to start to realize that NewsNation is a different voice in the marketplace, one that is humbly asking for their trust. I think that we’re going to continue to get it one viewer at a time over the next few months and years.

JWK: And where do you see yourself?

RS: That’s a good question. I mean these last couple of years I’ve found myself spending months on end in the Middle East – in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, Bahrain – now recently Rome, Vatican City. My goal in the next few years is that I’m, to an extent, in a similar place – which is right in the middle of it, right in the middle of these huge stories.

I look back at this story that I just came off of, the papal conclave. There are stories in your career which you look back on and you say maybe that makes it into a history book one day. That’s one of the few ones I’ve been at in which I knew – in that moment – that I was witnessing a pivotal moment in world history.

JWK: I was just about to ask you how it feels to be standing in the middle of an historic event?

RS: Humbly grateful. Humbly grateful to be able to witness historic moments and to observe history as it plays out. I hope that the coverage that we were able to bring about and share with our viewers really helped articulate and paint that image of what it was – which was an historic moment that we may never see again. You know, it could be decades before we have our next papal conclave. It could be decades – even a century – before we have our next pope who is born in the United States. Who knows what the future holds? It is a really surreal moment to pause, take a deep breath and realize that what you just witnessed was truly history.

JWK: That’s great. Anything you’d like to say as we wrap up?

RS: I think the last thing that I have to say is I’d really like to give a “thank you” to all of our viewers who have put their trust in NewsNation. For those who have not given us a chance yet, I really hope that you give us an opportunity to earn your trust.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.