As a young Catholic girl, I was taught to worship Jesus and revere the pope. I never expected to see a U.S. president insult and mock them both. Unfortunately, President Trump has proven me wrong.

Trump’s repost of an AI-generated image that obviously showed him posing as Jesus, wearing a long white robe and a red cloak as he healed a sick man surrounded by glowing light, went beyond even my expectations of his erratic behavior. The president absurdly claimed he thought the image of him in ancient garb portrayed him as a doctor but deleted it after it generated widespread criticism.

Trump also didn’t back down from another post on his Truth Social site attacking Pope Leo XIV, the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. Like other popes before him, and clergy of many religions, Leo has called for disputes to be settled peacefully, rather than through war.

Trump, clearly bothered by the allusion to his and Israel’s war of choice in Iran, called Leo “WEAK on crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy.” The president also wrote that Leo “should be thankful” to him because “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,”

“I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do,” Trump wrote, as if the pope’s moral judgments and religious teachings were determined by election returns.

In response, Leo said he doesn’t “want to get in a debate” with Trump but has “no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do.”

Born Robert Prevost 70 years ago on the south side of Chicago, with family roots in my beloved New Orleans, Pope Leo does not bow down to Trump the way so many cowardly Republican politicians and business leaders do. Unlike the president, the pope speaks and acts with moral clarity, honesty, consistency and courage.

The president seems to believe the pope has a duty to support his policies and heap praise on him, as if Leo were a sycophantic member of his Cabinet.

I’m no theologian, but as someone who goes to Catholic Mass almost every weekend and prays every day — including for the welfare of the president, no matter who is in the White House — I have never read in the Bible or been told by a priest that it is a sin to criticize Trump. Trump criticizes many of his predecessors but clearly believes he should be exempt from criticism.

Perhaps I need to buy a Trump Bible, originally sold for $59.99 — or $99.99 for editions endorsed by Trump — to enlighten me. Just think — always looking to make a buck, Trump made $1.3 million in 2024 for endorsing the edition of the Bible.

The image of Trump as Jesus reminded me of another AI image posted in May on the White House X account, and still there as of this writing, showing Trump dressed as the pope during the mourning period for Pope Francis, before Leo was elected as his successor. Trump claimed he “had nothing to do with” the posting by someone he did not know after it drew criticism from prominent Catholics and clergy.

“The Catholics loved it,” Trump said, falsely.

Trump also claimed in February, during Black History Month, that he was unaware that an AI-generated video posted on his Truth Social account portrayed former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as apes. That racist video insulting our nation’s first Black president and first lady was taken down.

We have a right to expect our president to treat men and women of all faiths, races and other demographic characteristics with respect and dignity, and to not lob insults like a spoiled child having a temper tantrum. And the president should be smart enough to understand that religious leaders answer to an authority higher than himself.

If common decency fails to motivate Trump, he should remember that he was reelected in 2024 with 55 percent of the Catholic vote, according to the Pew Research Center. When Trump won only 49 percent of the Catholic vote in 2020, he lost to Joe Biden.

With midterm elections approaching, the last thing Republicans need is to be perceived as an anti-Catholic party. By foolishly picking a fight with the pope, Trump has increased chances that Democrats will pick up enough Catholic votes to win control of the House and possibly even the Senate in November. If that happens, it won’t just be good news for Democrats. It will be good news for America.

Donna Brazile is a political strategist, a contributor to ABC News and former chair of the Democratic National Committee. She is the author of “Hacks: Inside the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House.“

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