Michael Baumgartner calls Christ-like image of Trump 'inappropriate,' says president was wrong to criticize Pope Leo

WASHINGTON - As lawmakers returned to the Capitol from a two-week recess on Tuesday, the Catholic congressman who represents Eastern Washington said President Donald Trump was wrong to criticize Pope Leo XIV and to post an image of himself as a Jesus-like figure over the weekend.

Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, said in a statement Tuesday that he agrees with Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who said in a statement shared by the Diocese of Spokane on Monday that he was "disheartened" that Trump "chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father." Apparently in response to the pontiff holding a prayer vigil for peace on Saturday and calling for an end to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran that has spread across the Middle East, the U.S. president has lashed out at Leo in a series of written and verbal statements in recent days.

"I agree with the statement released by the Diocese of Spokane and believe President Trump was wrong to criticize Pope Leo, and to post an inappropriate AI image of himself healing the sick," Baumgartner said, referring to an image the president posted on Sunday and deleted a day later. It was apparently created with artificial intelligence, depicting himself as a Christ-like figure with light radiating from his hands as he touches the head of a man in a hospital bed.

The congressman's statement came as Trump faced an unusual degree of backlash from Republicans in Congress, who have stood by the president with few exceptions throughout his second term in office. Still, most GOP lawmakers have avoided addressing the image or the president's attacks on the pope, which continued on Monday.

Sen. Jim Risch, an Idaho Republican and a Catholic, refused to answer questions from The Spokesman-Review at the Capitol on Tuesday, pointing silently at his spokeswoman when asked for his reaction to both the Trump-as-Christ image and the president's criticism of Leo. Risch's office later provided a terse statement that addressed only the image, not the attacks on the pope.

"While I have not seen the now deleted image, it is my understanding that deleting the post was the appropriate course of action," Risch said in the statement.

Baumgartner said he hopes Trump will soon have the chance to meet with Leo, the first pope born in the United States, adding that the Trump administration "has done much to improve relations with the Catholic Church that had deteriorated under the Biden administration." The congressman cited the Trump administration's support for religious freedom on college campuses and its move to end the FBI's targeting of what the law enforcement agency, in a 2023 memo, called "radical-traditionalist Catholics" who were prone to joining violent extremist groups.

"I also think that President Trump and Pope Leo would find common ground on Iran in a face -to -face meeting," Baumgartner said. "My bet is that two old guys from Chicago and New York would hit it off and find a lot in common."

In his lengthy statement, Baumgartner argued that the United States is conducting its airstrikes on Iran "in a humane way in concert with the Church," and consistent with the teachings of St. Augustine, a bishop and philosopher who lived in the fourth and fifth centuries in what is now the North African nation of Algeria. Leo, the first pope from the Order of St. Augustine, began a three-day papal visit to Algeria on Monday. On the flight across the Mediterranean from the Vatican, the pontiff told reporters he had "no fear" of the Trump administration or of spreading the Gospel's message of peace.

Writing during the decline of the Roman Empire, St. Augustine sought to reconcile the Christian commandment that "thou shalt not kill" with the realities of war, developing a "just war theory" based on three criteria: War should be waged only by a legitimate authority, like a government; for a just cause, such as defending against an unprovoked attack or righting a wrong; and with the intention of attaining peace, not for what Augustine called "love of violence."

Baumgartner said a class on just war theory was one of his favorite classes at Harvard University, where he earned a master's degree, and the congressman said the prospect of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon "would be a grave threat to the peace and justice of the world."

The Rev. Patrick Conroy, a Catholic priest who served at Gonzaga University before and after his time as chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives, wrote in an email to The Spokesman-Review on Monday that Trump "launched an immoral war" according to St. Augustine's just war theory.

"Threatening to destroy a civilization is threatening a war crime," Conroy wrote, referring to Trump posting April 7 on social media that if the Iranian government didn't agree to his demands, "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again."

Most Republicans, who control both the House and Senate, have blocked efforts by Democrats and a handful of GOP lawmakers to order an end to the war, which Congress has not authorized. Conroy, who served as House chaplain from 2011 through 2020, called on lawmakers to assert the authority over wars granted to them by Article I of the Constitution.

"President Trump, and all Members of Congress (here's looking at you, leadership in the House and the Senate), took the same oath of office I did 5 times as Chaplain: to defend the Constitution," Conroy wrote. "That would include assuming proper responsibility for the declaration of any war, (and defunding any action not so approved) but also the protection of our country against all enemies, foreign and domestic. President Trump promotes Putin, and pardoned the January 6 felons. Prima facie violation of his oath of office."

Baumgartner, who is not a Jesuit but served on a Jesuit mission in Mozambique after he earned a bachelor's degree from Washington State University, recalled that experience and said, "Catholic clergy are amazing people who have true spiritual expertise, but when it comes to politics - they have a wide range of opinions just like the rest of us."

Noting that Leo speaks as the leader of the Catholic Church, not as a politician or policy maker, Baumgartner emphasized that he and his fellow Catholics consider the pope infallible only "when he sets Church doctrine, not when he talks about current events."

"There's a lot to celebrate having an American Pope for the first time in history," Baumgartner said. "He speaks our language and understands our challenges. But like every American, he will have his own political opinions."

Orion Donovan Smith's work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.

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This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 7:14 PM.