Vice President JD Vance tried to spin President Donald Trump’s now-deleted Truth Social post depicting himself as Jesus Christ in an AI-generated image.

Asked by Fox News’ Bret Baier on Monday about Trump’s recent clashes with Pope Leo XIV and the AI image, Vance defended the Jesus post and attempted to explain why the president eventually took it down.

“Well, first of all, Bret, I think the president was posting a joke,” Vance, who is Catholic, said. “And of course, he took it down because he recognized that a lot of people weren’t understanding his humor in that case.”

BAIER: I wonder as a catholic how you consider this picture which a lot of people took as the president posting a picture of himself as Jesus?VANCE: I think the president was posting a joke and, of course, he took it down because he recognized that a lot of people weren't… pic.twitter.com/gdcaVw6Ahy

Vance then tried to paint Trump’s unorthodox use of social media as a positive attribute.

“I think the president of the United States likes to mix it up on social media, and I actually think that’s one of the good things about this president, is that he’s not filtered. He doesn’t send everything through a communications professional. He actually reaches out directly to the people,” Vance said.

Despite taking the post down, Trump tried to spin the image’s message.

“I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor,” he told reporters at the White House. “Only the fake news could come up with that one.”

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