Catholic JD Vance weighs in after Trump removes Truth Social post with image appearing to show himself as Jesus
Vice President JD Vance said that a now-deleted post shared by President Donald Trump, in which the commander-in-chief appears to be dressed as Jesus, was a “joke.”
Trump shared the widely condemned picture, which shows him clothed in white robes and placing a glowing hand on a sick patient, shortly after blasting Pope Leo XIV on Truth Social.
In a lengthy post, the president claimed that the pope was “WEAK” on crime and tore into the pontiff’s criticism of the U.S.’s war with Iran.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, told Fox News’ Special Report With Bret Baier on Monday that the president’s post was “a joke.”
“And, of course, he took it down because he recognized that a lot of people weren’t understanding his humor in that case,” he said. “I think the president of the United States likes to mix it up on social media.”
Vance added that it was “good” that Trump is “not filtered.”
“I certainly think that, in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality,” Vance said. “To stick to matters of, you know, what’s going on in the Catholic Church and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy.”
When asked about Trump’s claim that the Pope was “catering to the Radical Left,” Vance said that Trump has the “prerogative” to set the country’s immigration policy.
“He has to look out for the interests of the United States of America,” he added.
Vance was shredded on social media for his comments, with journalist John Harwood claiming on X that the Trump administration is “not interested in matters of morality.”
“Glad the Vice President clarified that he doesn’t think waging war is a matter of morality,” political commentator Jon Favreau wrote on X.
Writer Polly Sigh took aim at Vance’s upcoming memoir about his conversion to Catholicism.
“Spoken just like a fake Catholic who confused a Methodist church with a Catholic one on the cover of his book,” she wrote on X.
Vance was one of the last world leaders to meet with Pope Francis before his death.
