Swift backlash from loyalists and adversaries after Trump depicts himself as Christ
The US president's feud with the first American pope appears to have led Donald Trump to declare himself Jesus Christ in an AI-generated image on Sunday, which drew so much backlash that he deleted it by Monday.
"I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with the Red Cross," Trump later told reporters at the White House.
"It's supposed to be me as a doctor making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better," he said.
But the image is unmistakable.
Trump is shown in a robe, with glowing hands and his palm hovering above the forehead of a man shown lying in a bed with his eyes closed.
In both the Christian and Muslim traditions, Jesus Christ is believed to have possessed the miracle of healing the sick and the blind.
Widespread condemnation
"Trump is now attacking the Pope for speaking out against war while posting images of himself as a messianic figure," Vermont Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders wrote on X.
"This is not only offensive. It is deranged, egomaniacal behavior. When will Republicans in Congress stop blindly following this dangerous and unhinged man?"
"I am repulsed by this photo," Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern, the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, wrote on X. "This is outrageous, offensive, and profane. Clearly, he is not well. As an American, a Catholic, a human - I am disgusted."
The official account of the Democratic National Committee - the party's headquarters - deferred Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson, on X: "Care to comment @JDVance @SpeakerJohnson?"
Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019 and wrote a book about it. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also a Catholic. Johnson is vocally devout as a member of the Baptist church.
While reactions were swift from all sides, even by early Monday evening in Washington, DC, none had come from sitting Republicans in Congress.
US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who is also a Baptist minister, said nothing, despite frequently posting to X on religious debates and occasions, including Sunday's Orthodox Easter.
"I completely denounce this and I’m praying against it!!!" former Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene wrote on X.
"Jesus Christ is not a meme. His image is not a political tool. His name is not a brand," former Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger wrote on X. "I am asking Christians - Protestant, Catholic, doesn’t matter - to say out loud what you know to be true in your hearts."
Both Greene and Kinzinger chose not to run for re-election after Trump and his loyalists mounted a pressure campaign against them.
"Trump is not only a blasphemer but he is a liar," Carrie Prejean Boller, a former Trump supporter and anti-Zionist Catholic who was fired from his Religious Liberty Commission, said on X. "No Christian can support Trump or his administration. Speak now or be complicit in evil."
Former Fox News host and Republican firebrand Megyn Kelly reposted a caption that read: "He thinks you're so stupid," about Trump's doctor rationale.
Knights Templar International, which promotes the resurgence of the medieval army of the Catholic Church, said on X that it is "deeply offended by this and have no other choice but to condemn it wholeheartedly and ask for a public apology to the Christian brethren who have been deeply upset by this depiction".
The group backed Trump in the 2016 and 2024 elections.
"This offensive and blasphemous image be removed forthwith!" it said on X.
Laura Loomer, a hardline anti-Muslim and pro-Israel commentator with the ear of administration officials, defended Trump's AI image.
"We don’t have 'blasphemy' laws here in the US. If you want to be outraged over blasphemy, I suggest you move to a Muslim country where you can be given the death penalty if you depict Mohammed," she wrote on X.
The X account for Iran's embassy in South Africa, which has been mocking Trump's decisions since the US-Israeli war on Iran was launched, asked about the patient appearing to be healed by Trump in the image: "Is it Epstein being cared for in the Healing Ministry of Trump?"
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also condemned the post on X, saying, "I condemn the insult to Your Excellency and declare that the desecration of Jesus (peace be upon him), the Prophet of peace and brotherhood, is unacceptable to any free person."
Trump vs Pope Leo
Shortly before Trump shared the AI image on Sunday, he had gone on a tirade attacking the first American head of the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV, and seemingly tried to drive a wedge between Leo and his brother, who had voted for Trump.
"Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy. He talks about 'fear' of the Trump Administration, but doesn't mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart. I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA," Trump wrote.
"I don't want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States."
Leo had previously spoken out against the US-Israeli war on Iran, the Israeli war on Lebanon, and Trump's crackdown on immigrants inside the US.
Several cardinals who spoke to the CBS programme "60 Minutes" on Sunday also condemned the president's warpath.
And on Saturday, the archbishop of Washington, DC, Cardinal Robert McElroy, openly called for Christians to "move beyond prayer" to quell injustice.
"As citizens and believers in this democracy that we cherish so deeply, we must advocate for peace with our representatives and leaders. It is not enough to say we have prayed. We must also act... our president will move to reenter this immoral war," he said at a mass for peace.
"No. Not in our name. Not at this moment. Not with our country."
Last week, the Catholic-focused publication, Letters From Leo, revealed that the Vatican's ambassador to the US had been summoned by a Pentagon official earlier this year for a reprimand and told that the US government could act however it wanted.
"I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the Church is here to do," Pope Leo told reporters on Monday.
"We are not politicians. We don’t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the Gospel, as a peacemaker."
The Iraqi Christian Foundation put out a call to vote against Trump and his party in the upcoming midterm elections in November.
"We call on all Chaldean Catholics & other Catholics in the USA to vote against the Republicans or abstain from voting in the 2026 elections. We stand with Pope Leo XIV!" the group wrote on X.
Support for Leo was global and included prominent Muslims.
Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammed Ghalibaf, wrote: "Honoring Pope Leo’s fearless stand!"
"He condemns the war crimes of Israel and the US... thank you for this light!"
In a statement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said it stands in "solidarity" with the pope.
"Between denigrating the pope, portraying himself as Jesus (peace be upon him), and sarcastically praising Allah, the president's mockery of religion is both deranged and insulting."
Sneako, a controversial Muslim-American influencer with more than one million followers on X, said: "We stand with the Pope and the beautiful religion of Catholicism. Trump is committing the greatest act of blasphemy. If you love America, condemn this evil immediately."
This article was sourced from Middle East Eye.
Read Full Article on Middle East Eye →