Trump-as-Jesus post angers Christian conservatives who say it’s ‘blasphemy’

President Trump’s social media post depicting himself as a Jesus-like figure has sparked fierce backlash from factions of his conservative and Christian base, who called the image blasphemous and urged the president to remove it.

The president — who ultimately deleted the post Monday amid the scrutiny — posted the image on his Truth Social platform on Sunday night, shortly after attacking Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, in what one Republican strategist called a “one-two punch of attacking the Pope and then insulting all Christians.”

“If you’re a conservative Christian, you don’t like this,” said Doug Heye, a former Republican National Committee communications director, in an interview with The Hill.

“You’ve been fully invested in the Trump presidency for a long time now, but this goes too far for you,” Heye continued. “And we know that he knows that because he deleted it.”

The image, which is rendered as a painting, shows Trump in the center, dressed in a long white robe with a red shawl draped over his shoulders. In his left hand, the president holds an orb of light as he looks down at his right hand, which is placed on the forehead of a man whose eyes are closed as he lies down in what appears to be a hospital bed. Light is illuminated around the sick man’s head as it makes contact with the president’s hand. 

Surrounding the president, and in the background of the painting, are numerous patriotic images: the American flag, two eagles, U.S. troops, and the Statue of Liberty.

The post, sent on Orthodox Easter, immediately angered many conservative Christians, who have historically been some of the president’s most loyal followers but who came out in waves to slam the post as blasphemous.

“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,” Megan Basham, a prominent conservative Christian journalist, wrote in a post on the social platform X,........

© The Hill