In 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump said that he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” While attempted murder might not change supporters’ minds, blasphemy might — at least that’s how it appears.
Trump is facing criticisms from one of his strongest groups of supporters: Christian conservatives. The president is facing backlash for posting an AI-generated image of him resembling Jesus Christ healing a sick man. Trump said Monday that he thought it depicted him as a doctor.
The Trump administration had already been publicly criticizing Pope Leo XIV.
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote. “And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do.”
Christian controversy
In Christianity and other Abrahamic religions, blasphemy is any speech or action that shows a lack of reverence or disrespect towards God. It’s also a major sin. The Bible even states that blasphemy is the only sin that can’t be forgiven.
In Matthew 12:31-32, the apostle writes that “every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” In Mark, he also writes a similar, more direct threat to blasphemers.
“Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter,” Mark writes. “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”
The photo shows Trump dressed in white robes and a red sash, as light pours from his hands as he touches a man in a hospital bed. In the background, famous American landmarks are visible, like the Statue of Liberty. Other American symbols like a bald eagle, the flag and fighter jets light up the sky as a holy glow casts through the clouds. Four people, two white men and two white women, look up to Trump in reverence, as five “angels” look from above.
Following the backlash, Trump’s account removed the post. He admitted posting it but said he believed he was a doctor, not Christianity’s most important figure.
“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with the Red Cross, as a Red Cross worker there, which we support,” Trump told reporters, according to The Hill.
A religious response
Megan Basham, a popular conservative Protestant Christian commentator, was one of the Trump supporters offended by his post, calling it an “OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy.”
“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,” Basham wrote on X. “But he needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.”
Riley Gaines, the former college swimmer turned conservative podcaster, said she couldn’t say why he would post something so offensive to a group of people who support him.
“Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this?” she asked her 1.6 million followers. “Either way, two things are true. A little humility would serve him well. God shall not be mocked.”
The Daily Wire’s Isabel Brown also posted on social media, criticizing the post. Brown is a conservative Catholic who is often aligned with the president, The Washington Post reports.
“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,” Brown wrote. “Spend more time today seeking Truth from Jesus Christ than scrolling truth social.”