To put this in perspective, Prevost obtained at least 15 more votes than Pope Francis, 16 more than Benedict XVI, and one more vote than John Paul II, although it should be noted that these previous conclaves had a much smaller number of cardinals.
This way, Cardinal Dolan, a close friend of President Donald Trump from his time as a New York magnate, managed to mobilize a key support network that helped consolidate Prevost's leadership, whose name reportedly emerged from a meeting that JD Vance had when he visited Pope Francis himself days before his death.
Pope Francis reportedly mentioned Prevost's name as one of the papabili to Vance, who, like the elected Holy Father, is also a member of the Order of St. Augustine in the United States, and the conversation took on a more political tone.
Vance returned to Washington with Prevost's name and, through a conversation with Trump, they told Dolan that if he could, he should try to get behind him in the conclave if Parolin did not gather enough support in the first round.
While Prevost is more progressive and has had tough clashes with Vance in the past, the now Pope Leo XIV is significantly more conservative and traditionalist than the line of Francis that Parolin, or worse, a Tagle, would have continued.
