Trump deletes controversial Jesus-like post after widespread backlash
What's the story
United States President Donald Trump has deleted a controversial post from his social media platform, Truth Social. The post featured an AI-generated image of Trump resembling a Jesus-like figure, healing a sick man in a hospital bed. The image drew criticism from across the political spectrum, including Trump's own supporters. The background of the image included iconic American symbols like the Statue of Liberty and a US flag, along with religious and military imagery.
Image defense
Trump defends image as 'me as a doctor'
After the backlash, Trump defended the image as a depiction of him as a doctor. He said he thought it was "me as a doctor" and added, "It's supposed to be as a doctor making people better." However, he later deleted the post after admitting that it had confused people. The controversy came on the same day Trump criticized Pope Leo XIV for his stance on US foreign policy in Iran.
Criticism intensifies
Backlash from conservative Christian supporters
The image also faced backlash from Trump's conservative Christian supporters. Riley Gaines called it "cannot understand why he'd post this," while Megan Basham called it "OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy." Isabel Brown slammed the post as a "profound misreading of the American people experiencing a true and beautiful revival of faith in Christ." Even Sean Feucht, a Christian activist, demanded its immediate deletion.
Image source
Image posted by Nick Adams in February
The image was originally posted by conservative commentator Nick Adams in February. In Adams's version, a US soldier stood in the background; however, in Trump's version, this soldier was replaced with a demon. The controversy comes amid an ongoing feud between Trump and Pope Leo over US foreign policy. The pope has criticized the war in Iran as "absurd and inhuman violence." Meanwhile, Trump slammed Pope Leo, calling him "weak on crime" and "terrible for foreign policy."