The Grift Revealed: How Trad Inc. Flipped on Leo in 24 Hours
They mocked him. They deleted their tweets. Now they’re kissing his ring. And it’s not because they believe. It’s because they’re bought.
When Pope Leo XIV was elected, the initial reaction from many in Trad Inc. was clear and critical. He was called the Francis continuity candidate. Some posted memes of white smoke turning to black. Tweets and livestreams warned that the revolution would continue. The consensus was near unanimous: this was not a moment of hope, but of betrayal.
And then, within 24 hours, it all changed. Posts disappeared. YouTube thumbnails were edited or pulled. Twitter timelines were wiped. The message pivoted to “let’s give him a chance.” The tone changed from alarm to optimism. And all of this happened before Leo had even publicly explained his vision or priorities as pope.
Then came the confirmation. On May 14, Leo praised Isaac of Nineveh: an Eastern mystic outside the Church whose universalist views were already scandalously embraced by Francis. Four days later, he declared Pope Francis to be “accompanying us from Heaven.” These weren’t neutral gestures. They were unmistakable signs that the revolution was not being corrected, it was being canonized.
But by that time, the narrative had already shifted. Trad Inc. had made its pivot. The same influencers who, just hours after the conclave, denounced Leo as a liberal in Latin vestments, were now urging patience. They had begun laundering his image before he had said or done a single thing, except exist as a potential bridge back to access and credibility.
As Ben Harnwell said in a now widely shared Rumble video, this flip wasn’t about theology. It was about the grift. A pope who wears lace and speaks reverently offers opportunity: for interviews, platforms, conferences, and Vatican invites. If you flatter him, you might get a phone call. If you criticize him, you’re frozen out.
And so the content changed. Not because of what Leo did, but because of what Trad Inc. wants.
Steve Bannon was blunt about it. In post-conclave interviews, he accused Francis of rigging the election. According to Bannon, Prevost was handpicked by Bergoglio, and Francis-appointed cardinals ensured the outcome. He called Leo “the worst pick for MAGA Catholics,” a globalist pope chosen to neutralize populist resistance. He even said the conclave was “more rigged than the 2020 election,” predicting future battles over immigration and sovereignty with Leo siding against the faithful.
The New York Times confirmed that Francis’s cardinals dominated the vote and painted Leo as a compromise figure meant to unite progressive and conservative elements; an illusion of unity with no real change. Vanity Fair exposed the hypocrisy of the online right, quoting voices who were initially alarmed but quickly adopted a “wait and see” posture. Taylor Marshall, for example, posted a video calling Leo “definitely on the Francis trajectory.” That video vanished within hours. Replaced by this:
And perhaps the clearest example of the pivot came from John-Henry Westen of LifeSiteNews. In a video released shortly after the conclave, Westen blasted Leo for his role in the removal of Bishop Strickland and the elevation of Cardinal McElroy. It was firm, critical, and sober.
But then, days later, he published an editorial taking the exact opposite tone, emphasizing “hope” in Leo’s pontificate and urging readers not to begin from a “place of suspicion or opposition.” One moment Leo was dangerous. The next, he was the dawn of renewal. The content changed. The man hadn’t.
This isn’t integrity. It’s insurance.
The Latin is back. The vestments are richer. The chant is smoother. And for many in Trad Inc., that is enough. Doctrine can collapse. Heretics can be canonized. Francis can be declared a heavenly presence. But if the optics feel Catholic, the grift goes on.
Some of us haven’t forgotten. Some of us still believe doctrine matters more than dress. Some of us remember that the Church is not saved by aesthetics but by truth.
And some of us aren’t deleting our posts.
I have ignored the grift of the social media "trad movement" for years. Unfortunately, we are outnumbered now and they have completely taken over the conversation even in real life in the Sunday social circles.
It's nice to know there are serious Catholics around still who are tuned in to the very real work of Catholic restoration. Thank you for holding the line.
We are in dire need of Catholic teachers teaching orthodox theology, philosophy, and spirituality.
It's good to have Chris Jackson as a sobering voice reason in this moment of confusion. It's interesting to see this shift happening in traditional circles and I must admit, it's tempting to want to put your gaurd down and rejoice in a new Pope thats looking and saying Catholic things.My suspicion, is that this was the plan from the beginning. To have a Pope so outrageous like Francis that when he's finally gone, people will rejoice that the veneer of Catholicity returning, will nullify alot of the resistance to the doctrinal attacks that have been left like trojan horses in this post Francis synodality wasteland. I do sincerely hope Pope Leo turns out to be good but I suspect that will only happen under absolute servere persecution that I think is coming. Watch and 🙏.