US President Donald Trump deleted a social media image on Monday after facing criticism from religious leaders who accused him of blasphemy.
The image, posted on Trump’s Truth Social account late Sunday and removed the following day, showed him dressed in red and white robes, touching the forehead of a man who appeared ill, with rays of light emanating from his hand and head. An American flag was visible in the background, and several figures looked on in apparent reverence.
When questioned about the post, Trump denied any intention to depict himself as Jesus Christ. “I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with the Red Cross,” he told reporters. “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better.”
The image sparked immediate backlash from prominent conservative Christians, some of whom are key Trump supporters. “I don’t know if the President thought he was being funny or if he is under the influence of some substance or what possible explanation he could have for this OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy,” conservative journalist Megan Basham wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “He needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.”
Trump has previously shared religious imagery on social media. During his 2023 bank fraud trial, he posted a supporter’s sketch showing him seated next to Jesus in court. His advisors have also drawn parallels between Trump and Jesus. At an Easter lunch at the White House earlier this month, televangelist and spiritual advisor Paula White-Cain compared Trump’s experiences to those of Jesus, saying, “You were betrayed and arrested and falsely accused. It’s a familiar pattern that our Lord and Savior showed us.”
Matthew Taylor, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Center on Faith and Justice and an expert on Christian nationalism, noted that Trump has embraced a messianic image more strongly since surviving an assassination attempt in July 2024. “Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason, and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness,” Trump said in his victory speech after the 2024 election.
Taylor warned that the Jesus image post could deepen divisions within Trump’s base, especially among Catholics who are already upset over his conflict with Pope Leo regarding US airstrikes on Iran. “A lot of right-wing supporters were already pushing back against the war in Iran. The rift was already emerging for a lot of his Catholic base, and with the denunciations of Pope Leo this does threaten to alienate that crowd, Taylor said.
However, Kristin du Mez, a historian at Calvin University, doubts the controversy will shake Trump’s core support. His conservative Christian supporters are keeping their distance from what would clearly count as blasphemy, she said. But I also see a lot of dodging. Yes, blasphemy is bad, this is inappropriate, he should take this down. What I’m not seeing is in any way suggesting that they’re not going to continue supporting the man.
— AFP
