Clay Higgins

As President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iranian civilian targets like bridges and power plants, Rep. Clay Higgins cheered the escalation, urging the president to “Wipe. Them. Out.”

“I’ll support a ceasefire in Iran when the Iranian terrorist regime of disgusting jihadist fanatical men are all dead, their weapons are destroyed, their homes are rubble, and their lustful dreams of world domination have been pounded into the dust of history,” Higgins, a Lafayette Republican, wrote on X.

Higgins’ post includes a picture of an armored angel wielding a glowing sword.

“Hit them harder than ever Mr. President,” the post says. “Hit them so hard, the Angels in Heaven nod in wonder.”

Trump has threatened to escalate the bombing campaign against Iran to include targets like bridges and power plants if Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday night. The strait is a crucial choke point for international oil transportation, and gas prices across the globe have soared since Iran closed it.

On Tuesday morning, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”

Critics of the war have blasted Trump’s threats to target civilian infrastructure, saying such attacks would be war crimes.

Invocations of Christian faith in defense of the war — both Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a Monday press conference that God is on the side of the U.S. — have drawn backlash in some religious circles. Pope Leo XIV, for example, criticized using Christian faith to endorse war.

“Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” Leo said during a Palm Sunday homily in St. Peter’s Square. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.’”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.