Megyn Kelly slammed both Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth a day after the President feuded with Pope Leo XIV and posted an AI image of himself appearing to look like Jesus. 

Though Trump eventually took the likeness down from his Truth Social page, The Megyn Kelly Show host, herself a Catholic, still hammered him for going after the pontiff. 

'It was predictable. And no Catholic loves this, but you could see it coming, and it's hard to say that Trump is completely out of line, because whenever he gets attacked, whether it's by a journalist or a talking head or a pope, he punches back,' she said.

She also disputed Trump's notion that the pope was criticizing him 'because I'm doing exactly what I was elected in a landslide to do.'

'Are you, Mr. President? Were you elected to start another Middle East war? I don't think so,' Kelly said.

Kelly was much angrier at Trump for the 'absolutely absurd, offensive' AI post, which eventually got taken down by Trump himself. 

'It is obviously him purporting to be God. That is what he's doing. And it is blasphemous by any definition of that word,' Kelly claimed.

The host also noted his pattern of upsetting members of various religions following Trump's reference to Allah the week before.  

'I know you love getting a rise out of people. I know you're really enjoying being subversive. You upset all the right people. I get it, but, why? Last week it was Muslims. Now it's Catholics. Who's next?' 

'I bet you it's not going to be the Jews. It's not going to be the Israelis, promise you that. That's not coming,' she added.

Kelly said she didn't understand why she would go after members of religions who, in many cases, 'have done nothing but support' him. 

'We would appreciate not being mocked for our religious beliefs, something you seem to be increasingly fond of doing across most but not all religions.' 

The host also went after Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth for praying at press briefings as if the Iran War is 'all in the name of God.' 

'The bombing of Iran, in which, 170 young girls were killed, that was, that's not in the name of God. Okay? Definitely not in the name of Jesus. I wish you would just check the Jesus talk, the God talk at the Pentagon briefings. All right?' 

Kelly understands that Hegseth has a job to do but the references to religion are 'not appropriate' at the Pentagon.

'You pray on Sunday, pray every morning on your knees to God, but while you're updating us on the number you've killed, which necessarily has included some civilians, – don't mention Jesus, don't talk about God. Don't act like he's sanctioning what you're doing. Okay?'

Kelly has been a consistent critic of the war efforts, going as far as to suggest that Israel dragged Trump into Iran. 

Trump defended his now-deleted post depicting himself as Jesus Christ, claiming he believed the AI-generated image showed him as a doctor.

Trump deleted the post on Monday morning after it drew accusations of blasphemy from his own right-wing supporters. The President’s stunning defense came as he stood outside the Oval Office holding two bags of fresh McDonald’s fast food.

'It wasn't a depiction. I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor. And had to do with red cross as a red cross worker, which we support and only the fake news could come up with that one,' Trump told reporters. 'It's supposed to be me as a doctor making people better and I do make people better.'

The AI-generated image, posted to his Truth Social account, showed Trump draped in white with a red shawl, hands glowing with divine light, as he healed a sick patient in a hospital bed while a soldier, a nurse and others looked on in adoration.

It was posted Sunday evening and by Monday morning had sparked a furious backlash from Trump's own base. 

Trump, a Christian, has previously questioned his own salvation, saying: 'I think I'm not maybe heaven-bound' and 'I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make heaven.' 

Trump had attacked Pope Leo XIV, 70, hours earlier, posting: 'If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican.' 

During his Oval Office press conference on Monday, the President refused to apologize to the Pope.  

The President's posts sit awkwardly against the devout Catholic and Christian beliefs of his inner circle, not least Vice President JD Vance.

The feud with the Pope began after Leo criticized the US offensive against Iran, without naming Trump or Washington directly. 

Trump responded with a volley of broadsides against the head of the Catholic Church. 

'Pope Leo is weak on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,' Trump posted on social media on Sunday, adding, 'I don't want a Pope who thinks it's OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.' 

The Pope responded that he had 'no fear' of the Trump administration and will continue to speak out against the war with Iran.

'I have 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, what the Church is here to do,' he told reporters during a flight to Algeria. 

'I don't want to get into a debate with [Trump],' he added.

'Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say: there's a better way to do this,' Leo said.