‘Gross blasphemy.’ Image depicting Trump as Jesus figure removed after uproar

Religious conservatives have been among President Donald Trump’s strongest supporters, but some are speaking out against an AI-generated image the president posted online depicting himself as a figure widely likened to Jesus.

The image is blasphemous, some said. It is sacrilegious. And it is politically unwise. Amid the backlash, the image was removed from Trump’s social media feed in ​what appeared to be a rare concession to critics.

“This is gross blasphemy,” Brilyn Hollyhand, the former chair of the Republican National Committee’s Youth Advisory Council and a self-described “full time Christian” said of the image in a social media post. “Faith is ⁠not a prop. You don’t need to portray yourself as a savior when your record should speak for itself.”

The president posted the image on his ‌Truth Social account on April 12. It depicted Trump in a white ​robe, laying his hand on the forehead of a man who appears to be in a sick bed. A light glows in Trump’s other hand and light shines around the sick man’s head. An American flag waves in the background as a bald eagle flies nearby.

Shortly before Trump posted the image, he put out a ⁠long message on social media criticizing Pope Leo as “Weak on Crime, Weak on ‌Nuclear Weapons.” Roughly 1 in 5 Americans identify ‌as Catholic, and Trump’s clash with the first American pope could have political ramifications.

The image Trump posted of himself generated particularly strong pushback online, though. Trump defended sharing it and ⁠disputed that he was trying to compare himself to Jesus.

“I did post it and I thought it was me as as a doctor,” the president told reporters during an April 13 White House event, adding: “It’s supposed ‌to be me as a doctor making people ‌better, and I do make people better. I make people a lot better.”

Some on the right saw the image as offensive, though.

Conservative activist Riley Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer who has campaigned against transgender women competing in women’s ⁠sports, said in a social media post that she couldn’t understand why Trump would post ​the image.

“A little humility would serve him ⁠well,” said ​Gaines, who attended a White House event where Trump signed an executive order on transgender sports participation last year, adding: “God shall not be mocked.”

The conservative Catholic group CatholicVote.org, which was cofounded by Trump Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch, condemned the image as “blasphemous” and shared criticism of his statement about ⁠the pope.

A Pew Research Center survey from earlier this year found that 69% of white evangelical protestants approve of Trump’s job performance. Evangelicals are some of his strongest supporters and have been a key part of his political coalition. The Jesus-like image ⁠touched a nerve with many religious conservatives, though.

Megan Basham, a writer for the conservative Daily Wire media company and self-described “unabashed church lady” who wrote a book criticizing a “leftist agenda” among some Evangelical leaders, called the image “OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy.”

“He needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people ⁠and then from God,” Basham said on social ‌media.

Orthodox Christian and former GOP Rep. Justin Amash said in a social media ​post that the image ‌was “sacrilegious.”

And Michael Knowles, a conservative Catholic and podcaster for the Daily Wire, suggested the image could hurt ​Trump politically.

“I assume someone has already told him, but it behooves the President both spiritually and politically to delete the picture, no matter the intent,” Knowles wrote on social media.