Pope Francis's remarks on Thursday that U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is "not Christian" due to his views on immigration sparked jokes on social media, and the Pope quickly became a trending topic on Twitter in the United States.
The billionaire businessman called the Pope's comments "disgraceful" and said he was proud to be a Christian.
Twitter users poked fun at the brouhaha.
"Watching Trump fight with the Pope might be the most fun you can have with your clothes on," tweeted actor Albert Brooks.
Television comedy writer Wendy Molyneux joked about the controversy by attributing a fake quotation to Trump that mocked the presidential candidate's penchant for bawdy exaggeration.
"'You know, a lot of my friends are Popes, and they love what I'm doing. This one Pope is such a loser. And fat.' - @realDonaldTrump," Mr. Molyneux wrote on Thursday.
Paul Begala, a political consultant who is an adviser to a Super PAC helping Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, said: "How long before realDonaldTrump says the Pope is totally broke. Doesn't own a single golf course. Never even dated a supermodel. #Loser."
The Pope of was winning the battle on social media: Overall sentiment for Trump was negative, while overall sentiment for Francis was positive, according to social media analytic firm Zoomph.
While the Pope and Mr. Trump are now at odds, the real estate developer had previously praised the pontiff.
On Christmas Day 2013: Mr. Trump tweeted, "The new Pope is a humble man, very much like me, which probably explains why I like him so much!"
