On Sunday, Republican National Committee chairman (and incoming White House chief of staff) Reince Priebus released a message to celebrate Christmas.

You can read the full statement here , but there's one part that has left a lot of people scratching their heads:

The combination of the words "this Christmas" and "a new King" had people wondering whether the GOP was comparing Donald Trump to, well, Jesus.

Hey @GOP and @Reince, a new #king? Are you insane?

So the RNC thinks Trump is our New King? Coming again as Jesus did? This is getting really spooking. What kind of K… https://t.co/eM1P1JOXVB

The distinction between a president and a king is not trivial https://t.co/8At2sHon1E

"The distinction between a president and a king is not trivial," wrote this New York magazine writer.

.@Reince: 'Just as the three wise men did on that night, this Christmas heralds a time to celebrate the good news of a new King' #KEOTUS

"#KEOTUS," this Politico reporter joked, in a riff on the acronym for president-elect of the United States (PEOTUS).

Dear RNC: We don't have a "new King." What the hell is wrong with you people? #TwoPaths #Vigilance

Even John Weaver, a top aide to Ohio's Republican governor, John Kasich, was weirded out.

@reince & @rnc should apologize for using Christmas to compare @realDonaldTrump to Jesus & calling him a "new king"… https://t.co/3cUJMRNSwo

But others thought the statement was being misrepresented and that Priebus was referring to Jesus when he used the words "new King."

New King 👏 is 👏 referring 👏 to 👏 Jesus👏 please 👏 stop 👏 this 👏 nonsense. https://t.co/ztSecJv72V

Way too clever. Innocent error, poor writing. But had the Dems done it, the outrage would be thermonuclear and last… https://t.co/4GH6CoDBjh

No matter which "new King" #GOP meant in its Xmas massage, after 8 years I've had quite enough of POTUS-as-godlike-cult-leader, thanks.

For the purposes of comparison, here's what Priebus said last year: (He didn't use the words "new King")

When asked if the comparison was intentional, RNC spokesman Sean Spicer told BuzzFeed News the question was "offensive."

"I hope you are kidding," he said in an email. "Christ is the King in the Christian faith. To ask this on Christmas is frankly offensive."