Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) likened President Donald Trump to the “second coming” of Christ while dismissing Trump’s ongoing conflict with Pope Leo XIV.

In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju on Thursday, Nehls jumped on the opportunity to sing Trump’s praises.

“I believe that Donald Trump is better than sliced bread,” Nehls said. “I think he’s almost the second coming, in my humble opinion. I think he’s done a fantastic job. He’s got a very difficult job. Pope’s got a tough job. You know, got issues in the church. But, Donald Trump has a very, very difficult job to do. The toughest job in the world.”

Nehls has been open about pledging his unwavering fealty to the president. In 2024, he said House Republicans should “embrace … every single word” Trump says as the leader of the Republican party.

“There’s no question he’s the leader of our party,” he asserted. “So now he’s got a mission statement of his mission and his goals and objectives, whatever that is. We need to embrace it. All of it. Every single word. If Donald Trump says jump three feet high and scratch your head, we all jump three feet high and scratch our heads and that’s it.”

Trump has been in a verbal battle with Pope Leo, repeatedly slamming the pope in Truth Social posts this week after the pope condemned the Iran War and Trump’s “truly unacceptable” threat to wipe out a “whole civilization” if Iran’s leaders don’t agree to a deal with the U.S.

However, the president insisted he is not “fighting” with the pope after being grilled by CNN’s Kaitlin Collins outside the White House on Thursday.

“I’m not fighting with him,” Trump said. “The pope made a statement. He says Iran can have a nuclear weapon. I say Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. If the pope looked at the 42,000 people that were killed over the last 2-3 months as a protester with no weapons, no nothing. I mean, you take a look at that. So, I can disagree with the pope. I have the right to disagree with the pope.”

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