“The View” panelists also alluded to the public sparring Trump has been engaged in with Pope Leo, who has criticized the United States’ war with Iran and criticized Trump’s statement about destroying Iran’s entire civilization. “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” said the president on April 7. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
On April 10, the pope said, “God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”
“Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace,” said Pope Leo, “which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.”
Trump called the pope “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
“Leo should get his act together as Pope,” said the president, “use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician.”
“If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump said.
On Tuesday, Vice President J.D. Vance, a Catholic, also encouraged the pope to stay in his lane and said that “it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.”
RELATED: JD Vance: Pope Should ‘Be Careful’ Discussing ‘Matters of Theology’
Referring to the image of Trump as Jesus, “The View” cohost Whoopi Goldberg said, “Maybe [the president] took it down because the MAGA supporters and Christian conservatives lost their mind over it.”
The panelists mocked Trump’s doctor explanation, with Hostin saying Trump was a “better liar before.” They discussed whether or not religious conservatives were going to forgive Trump for this misstep and said they believed the president is alienating his Catholic supporters.
Griffin said that Trump doesn’t take down posts often, and the fact he did so in this case “speaks to the fact that he alienated evangelical Christians, who are with him, and the Catholic vote, which is a swing vote.”
Haines said she thinks that Trump likes to stoke controversy and was trying to get some “faux rage” going but that he didn’t anticipate how angry the image would make “his side.”
RELATED: Candace Cameron Bure Studied 80 Topics, 4 Hours per Night When She Was on ‘The View’
“One thing I would like to remember is in Matthew and Mark in the Bible, Jesus alerts his disciples to not be deceived by false prophets who will claim themselves to be the Christ, performing great signs and wonders,” said Haines. “Every time [Trump] does these things, I can’t help but think, it’s really on the nose here. He’s literally pretending to be the coming of Christ.”
“Some of his supporters have likened him to a savior-like figure,” Hostin said, “and I really hope at this point that they realize that he is a false prophet.”
When Behar said she thought those people “were kidding,” Hostin said she thought they were actually serious.
Griffin mentioned a video of Trump’s spiritual advisor, Paula White-Cain, that “a lot of Christians were very concerned by,” likely alluding to comments White-Cain made at an Easter lunch comparing Trump to Jesus.
RELATED: ‘Heresy’—Christians Slam Paula White-Cain for Comparing Trump to Jesus at Easter Lunch
It was here that Behar stated Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah and Griffin and Haines contradicted her.
