--- description: The Republican National Committee came under fire on Sunday after people said its Christmas message compared Donald Trump to Jesus Christ title: RNC’s Christmas Message About a ‘New King’ Referred to Jesus, Not Trump image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec4214f8c8145c0c/6988b3f58fd2ee34ed355444/reince-priebus-rnc.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The RNC Says Its Christmas Message About a ‘New King’ Referred to Jesus, Not Donald Trump by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 25, 2016 7:53 PM CUT  Reince Priebus on Dec. 13, 2016, in West Allis, Wis. Reince Priebus on Dec. 13, 2016, in West Allis, Wis.Scott Olson—2016 Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 25, 2016 7:53 PM CUT The [Republican National Committee](http://time.com/4540209/rnc-michael-steele-donald-trump/ "undefined") came under fire on Sunday after some said its Christmas message compared [Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump/ "undefined") to Jesus Christ. “Over two millennia ago, a new hope was born into the world, a Savior who would offer the promise of salvation to all mankind,” the [message from RNC chair Reince Priebus](https://gop.com/rnc-message-celebrating-christmas-2016/ "undefined") and co-chair Sharon Day said. “Just as the three wise men did on that night, this Christmas heralds a time to celebrate the good news of a new King.” The “news of a new King” set off social media users, including some who saw the statement as a clear reference to Trump’s election. > [](https://twitter.com/mattmfm/status/813064170161786880) Others argued Priebus was referring to Christ, not to Trump. > [](https://twitter.com/JWP1022/status/813077315118923776) Priebus, who has been named Trump’s White House Chief of Staff, sent a message last Christmas that [made no reference to a “new King.”](https://www.buzzfeed.com/davidmack/new-king-trump?utm%5Fterm=.yxVxVeGPaV#.or5Wwm7n1w "undefined") RNC spokesman Sean Spicer said the statement was not related to Trump and derided the “politicizing” of Christmas. “Christ is the King,” he [wrote on Twitter](https://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/813095085613154312?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw "undefined"). “He was born today so we could be saved. Its sad & disappointing you are politicizing such a holy day.” > [](https://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/813095085613154312) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4617878/rnc-donald-trump-christmas-new-king/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4617878/rnc-donald-trump-christmas-new-king/"},"headline":"The RNC Says Its Christmas Message About a ‘New King’ Referred to Jesus, Not Donald Trump","datePublished":"2016-12-25T19:53:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:28:00.303Z","description":"\"This Christmas heralds a time to celebrate the good news of a new King\"","url":"https://time.com/4617878/rnc-donald-trump-christmas-new-king/","keywords":["Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec4214f8c8145c0c/6988b3f58fd2ee34ed355444/reince-priebus-rnc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec4214f8c8145c0c/6988b3f58fd2ee34ed355444/reince-priebus-rnc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Reince Priebus on December 13, 2016 in West Allis, Wisconsin.","caption":"Reince Priebus on December 13, 2016 in West Allis, Wisconsin.","creditText":"Scott Olson—2016 Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4617878/rnc-donald-trump-christmas-new-king/","name":"The RNC Says Its Christmas Message About a ‘New King’ Referred to Jesus, Not Donald Trump"}}]}] ```