A sitting U.S. senator had some harsh words for Chinese President Xi Jinping following the announcement of a new title that hearkens back to the murderous, dictatorial Mao Zedong.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that — following a two-day meeting — the 25-member Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party labeled Xi as “renmin lingxiu, or ‘people’s leader,’ a designation that directly echoes an accolade most closely associated with Communist China’s founder Mao Zedong.”

And while the new descriptor doesn’t grant the Chinese leader any more power than he already has as the party’s general secretary, the report explains, “the reverential tones in the Politburo’s pronouncement — issued late Friday by state media — projects an aura of party unity behind Mr. Xi as he confronts wide-ranging economic and political challenges at home and abroad.”

In response to the news, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) — who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee — fired back at Xi and his new title, criticizing the country’s regime’s atrocious track records on the subject of basic human rights.

“If Chairman Xi is the ‘people’s leader,’ who are the people?” Sasse asked in a scathing statement sent out Saturday afternoon – READ MORE