(WASHINGTON) — An AI-generated image that President Donald Trump posted Monday on his social media platform that depicted him as a Jesus-like figure and drew criticism from some of the president’s religious backers was removed roughly 13 hours after it was posted.
Trump posted the image late Sunday night amid a flurry of posts and shortly after lashing out at Pope Leo XIV for his calls to end the war in Iran, saying, “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” He later added: “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
At an unscheduled news conference at the White House Monday afternoon, Trump acknowledged he posted the image, but said he thought it depicted him as a “doctor.”
“Well, it wasn’t a picture, it was me,” the president said. “I did post it, and I thought it was me as the doctor and it had to do with Red Cross as a Red Cross worker there, which we support.”
The post triggered a backlash from a number of Trump’s MAGA supporters.
Riley Gaines, a popular conservative activist and staunch ally, said she “cannot understand” why Trump would post the image and that “a little humility” would serve the president well.
“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.
1) a little humility would serve him well
2) God shall not be mocked” Gaines said in a post on X.
Megan Basham, a prominent Christian influencer in the MAGA movement, wrote on X: “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. But he needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.”
And former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, once one of Trump’s staunchest allies in Congress before breaking with him over the Jeffrey Epstein files and the war in Iran said of the image, “This comes after last week’s post of his evil tirade on Easter and then threatening to kill an entire civilization. I completely denounce this and I’m praying against it!!!”
Trump did not apologize for the post or admit fault for apparently misinterpreting the photo when asked about the image and the backlash and instead blamed the media.
“Only the fake news could come up with that one,” he said.
He later added, “So I just heard about it, and I said, ‘How did they come up with that? It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better, and I do make people better and make people a lot better.”
Trump said he would not apologize to the pope despite being called to do so by one of his closest Catholic allies, Bishop of Diocese of Winona-Rochester Robert Barron who attended an Easter lunch at the White House with Trump last week.
“No, I don’t, because Pope Leo said things that are wrong,” Trump said. “So, there’s nothing to apologize for. He’s wrong. And the other thing is, he didn’t like what we’re doing with respect to Iran, but Iran is a — wants to be a nuclear nation so they can exterminate the world? Not going to happen.”
On Saturday night during Leo’s prayer vigil inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope said, “Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!” and added, “True strength is shown in serving life.”
The first American pope said in response to Trump’s threat to destroy the Iranian civilization: “Today, as we all know, there has also been this threat against the entire people of Iran. And this is truly unacceptable!”
“Attacks on civilian infrastructure is against international law, but that it is also a sign of the hatred, the division, the destruction the human being is capable of,” he said.
Leo has repeatedly addressed the war in the Middle East since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 and called on leaders to “come back to the table, let’s talk. Let’s look for solutions in a peaceful way.”
Trump has removed a post from his social media platform before. Earlier this year when a White House staffer shared a video that included images depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys, the post was deleted from the president’s social media platform, but he refused to apologize when asked about the video saying he didn’t see the portion of the video with the Obamas before it was posted.
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