WASHINGTON — Sen. Thom Tillis didn’t hold back his opinion of President Donald Trump posting an image of himself as Jesus or attacking Pope Leo.

Early Monday, Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself dressed in a white robe with a red shawl draped over it. Jesus is often depicted wearing the same garments in Western art, a symbol of his purity and sacrifice.

Trump’s image showed Trump leaning over a sick person with a light coming out of his left hand. He’s surrounded by onlookers including medical professionals and a woman praying. Behind him are American landmarks, fireworks, fighter jets, an American flag and two bald eagles.

Two different versions of the images were posted on Truth Social, one with what appeared to be soldiers drenched in light over Trump’s head. A second version included someone in the center of the soldiers with horns and wings.

“I thought it was absurd,” Tillis told reporters in a video posted online. “I’m a lifelong Catholic, that’s an image that the moment I saw it, and I saw it in the abstract... he should have had advisers warn him off of that.”

Trump faced intense backlash from Democrats and Republicans, including supporters like conservative activist Riley Gaines.

Gaines said that Trump should “show humility” and that “God should not be mocked.”

“I cannot understand why he’d post this,” Gaines wrote on social media. “Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this?”

Trump deleted the image hours later, and in an interview with pool reporters confirmed he was the one who published the image.

“I thought it was me as a doctor,” Trump told pool reporters. “Only the fake news could come up with that.”

Trump added that he “makes people better.”

Tillis had thoughts.

“That should have been up for 30 seconds if he really felt that way,” Tillis said. “Some staffer should have had a brain to let him know what it really was.”

On Wednesday, Trump posted a new image of Jesus hugging him.

Trump’s post came as the president also took on Pope Leo after the pope wrote on social media, “God does not bless conflict.”

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!”

Trump also said “Leo should get his act together” and “stop catering to the radical left.”

Trump told pool reporters he won’t apologize to the pope.

“Pope Leo said things that are wrong,” Trump said.

Tillis told reporters Wednesday that the pope was taking a position that “comes straight from the Bible and his liturgical teachings.”

“It’s never really a good look for politicians to cross swords with popes,” Tillis said. “Very seldom does that end well.”

Vice President JD Vance, also a Catholic, told Fox News that the pope should “stick to matters of morality.”

“Let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,” Vance said.

All of this comes a week after Trump faced controversy for posting on Easter morning an expletive-laden post that he planned to attack Iran if the Iranians didn’t acquiesce to his request to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and included the phrase, “Praise be to Allah.”

He then intensified that post threatening to destroy all of Iran if the strait remained closed after 8 p.m. April 7.

The United States is currently under a two-week ceasefire with Iran that appears to be on shaky ground.

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