Trump recently joked that he would be his own “No. 1 choice” to succeed Pope Francis

After President Donald Trump jokingly nominated himself to be the next pope, some of his Republican supporters were quick to get on board.

On Tuesday, April 29, reporters asked Trump who he would like to see succeed the late Pope Francis, who died the week prior at age 88. He mused for a moment before answering.

“I’d like to be pope,” he said. “That would be my number one choice.”

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham reposted the clip on X and weighed in on Trump’s potential candidacy.

“I was excited to hear that President Trump is open to the idea of being the next Pope,” he wrote. “This would truly be a dark horse candidate, but I would ask the papal conclave and Catholic faithful to keep an open mind about this possibility!”

“The first Pope-U.S. President combination has many upsides,” he continued. “Watching for white smoke.”

However, Graham concluded his post with a more serious idea for Trump’s future, writing “Trump MMXXVIII!” using the Roman numerals for 2028. The mention of the next election year makes the South Carolina senator just the latest MAGA supporter to call for Trump to subvert the Constitution and run for a third term as president.

After making his sarcastic pope comment on Tuesday, the president said he has “no preference” about the upcoming papal conclave, which is set to begin on May 7. However, he did admit to some hometown bias.

“I must say we have a cardinal who happens to be out of a place called New York who’s very good,” he noted, likely referring to New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan. “We’ll see what happens.”

Dolan offered the invocation during Trump’s second inauguration ceremony in January. He also led Pope Francis’ funeral mass service at New York City’s famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Saturday, April 26.

While the appointment of an American pope is technically a possibility, experts recently told PEOPLE it’s highly unlikely.

“I think that there’s no chance for an American pope just because the United States is already so powerful in the world,” said Dr. Bill Cavanaugh, a professor of Catholic studies at DePaul University.

Current frontrunners to succeed Pope Francis include Cardinal Luis Tagle of the Philippines, Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, and Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem.