Opinion

From Iran to the fake Jesus image, Trump is facing a growing backlash for his inflammatory rhetoric

Riley Gaines, Isabel Brown and other Trump supporters publicly rebuked the president over the since-deleted post

By Howard Kurtz Fox News

Published April 15, 2026 3:00am EDT

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Donald Trump is nothing if not impulsive – and there’s often a method to his seeming madness.

At times that means going way over the line – consciously, deliberately – and at others it’s just rash.

Whether he’s dealing with Iran, the Epstein files, mass deportation or the leader of the Catholic Church, the president busts through the usual guardrails of decency and compassion.

I know this is often intentional, because the president has acknowledged it to me. Ripping others may bring him negative publicity, but Trump doesn’t mind that if it gets the pundits and the public chattering about the issue he wants driving the media agenda.

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Trump posting a user’s AI image of himself as Jesus Christ, healing a patient with glowing hands – and adding a demon in the background – was such a fiasco that he deleted it 12 hours later, which he almost never does. It was striking to hear him blaming it on "fake news" – which certainly covered it – when it was Catholic leaders, along with prominent conservative hosts and podcasters, who led the chorus of condemnation.

President Donald Trump irked Americans on both sides of the aisle on Sunday night by posting an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Isabel Brown, a Catholic podcaster with the Daily Wire and a Trump supporter: "This post is, frankly, disgusting and unacceptable, but also a profound misreading of the American people experiencing a true and beautiful revival of faith in Christ in the midst of our broken culture." 

Riley Gaines, a conservative podcaster and anti-trans activist who has spoken at Trump rallies: "I cannot understand why he’d post this…Two things are true…"a little humility would serve him well" and "God shall not be mocked."

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Megan Basham, a conservative Protestant Christian writer: "He needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God."

Rev. James Martin, editor-at-large of the Catholic magazine America, told CNN: "I don’t know too many doctors that have glowing hands. That’s the most Jesus-looking picture I think I could imagine."  

The posting came........

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