Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. said Friday that President Trump should escalate his war with Republicans in the House and Senate who don't support his agenda.

In an interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity, Falwell said he has called on Trump to start referring to senators that oppose his legislative agenda as "fake" Republicans.

“I spoke to the president last week and I told him he needs to coin a new term: Fake Republicans," Falwell said Friday.

ADVERTISEMENT

"Because that’s what those people you just named are," he added, referring to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellMomentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Trump expects to nominate woman to replace Ginsburg next week Video of Lindsey Graham arguing against nominating a Supreme Court justice in an election year goes viral MORE (R-Ky.) and Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainMomentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day McConnell urges GOP senators to 'keep your powder dry' on Supreme Court vacancy McSally says current Senate should vote on Trump nominee MORE (R-Ariz.). Both have spoken out against Trump-backed legislation.

"They’re not really Republicans," Falwell continued. "We don’t really have a majority in the Senate, and I think that would be a good term for him to start using.”

Falwell went on to praise Trump for becoming the first sitting president to speak at the Values Voter Summit, where Trump delivered remarks on Friday.

"The fact that he spoke at the Values Voter Summit today, the first sitting president ever, and the fact that he did his first graduation speech at Liberty University, tradition has been for the new president to do their first graduation speech at Notre Dame for generations, but he came to Liberty," Falwell said Friday.

"I think it's a sign that he understands that the left, we're under a full assault from the left of all traditional American values, from support for the state of Israel to even the NFL," Falwell said.

The Liberty University president has been one of Trump's top supporters among evangelicals since Trump's campaign announcement. In December, Falwell celebrated Trump's election when he told Fox News that "a new hope" had entered the White House.

"There's a new hope, an optimism. There's a good spirit in America," Falwell said in December. "And I think that's coming from his lead."