President Donald Trump irked Americans on both sides of the aisle on Sunday night by posting a now-deleted, AI-generated image that critics felt depicted himself as Jesus Christ.
The image showed Trump healing a sick man while surrounded by followers and patriotic imagery such as the flag, a bald eagle and the Statue of Liberty. The post came as Trump attacked Pope Leo XIV as “weak on crime,” “terrible for foreign policy” and accused him of “catering to the radical left” in a separate message.
Trump was asked about the image of himself “depicted as Jesus Christ” when a gaggle outside the Oval Office on Monday.
“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross… which we support, and only the fake news could come up with that one,” Trump told reporters.
“It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better, “Trump continued. “And I do make people better.”
While some interpreted the image as Trump “healing the nation,” and others suggested it was merely intended to troll Pope Leo, it didn’t go over well with some of his own supporters, and it was eventually removed from his Truth Social page.
OutKick’s Riley Gaines responded, “Why? Seriously, I cannot understand why he’d post this. Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this?”
“Either way, two things are true,” Gaines continued. “1) a little humility would serve him well 2) God shall not be mocked.”
RedState writer Bonchie noted, “God doesn’t care about your whataboutism,” and suggested Trump remove the message.
“Guys, some things can’t be excused by turning them into online slap fights because some things have larger implications than online slap fights. Such as blasphemy,” Bonchie wrote. “Trump needs to delete that meme and apologize. It’s that simple.”
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Journalist Megan Basham added, “He needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God,” while OutKick’s Jon Root called the post “blasphemous” and “reprehensible.”
Influencer Mike Cernovich said it “would not be tolerated for any other religion,” while influencer Brilyn Hollyhand said “faith is not a prop.”
“You don’t need to portray yourself as a savior when your record should speak for itself. The same God who saved Trump’s life from that bullet sent His son Jesus to die for our sins. He died for Trump just as much as for you and I,” Hollyhand wrote.
Conservative pundit Carmine Sabia suggested all Christians should be offended by the meme.
“As a Christian, I’m offended by this, and I don’t know how any Christian would not be offended by this. There is only one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” Sabia responded. “Mocking Him is not OK.”
Christian blogger Jackie Chea added, “No matter what Trump meant, the meme’s blasphemous. Doesn’t matter if he was trying to be funny. Not a good joke.”
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Trump’s Truth Social post was also heavily criticized by the left and members of the mainstream media.
“I can’t get over the blasphemous picture Trump put up comparing himself to Jesus Christ. Either he doesn’t know that you’re not supposed to compare yourself to the Lord and Savior, which is a stunning level of ignorance, or he did it on purpose to disrespect and mock people. Wow,” Young Turks founder Cenk Uygur wrote.
NBC News’ Richard Engel pondered whether Trump was joking or if he truly believes he has been “elevated to the level of a prophet.”
Left-wing influencer Harry Sisson suggested Trump was having a “mental health episode,” and “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin also called it “blasphemous” on Monday.
At least one person found humor in the situation.
“You guys are all freaking out and my uncle has been posting some version of that Trump as Jesus meme on Facebook since 2016,” writer Bridget Phetasy wrote.
A pro-Trump account said critics were wrongheaded, noting the image was made by another supporter months ago and showed “President Trump carrying out God’s work in healing and restoring our nation.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Eric Mack contributed to this report.
