'Gross Blasphemy': Image Depicting Donald Trump as Jesus Taken Down Amid Uproar

President Donald Trump sparked mass outrage late Sunday night, April 12, after posting an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure on Truth Social. The post followed a sharp public attack on Pope Leo XIV, whom Trump criticized as "weak.”

The image, which was later taken down amid uproar, depicted Trump in flowing biblical-style robes, appearing to heal a sick man in a hospital bed by placing a glowing hand on his forehead with angelic imagery.

The scene is heavily layered with patriotic and military symbolism, including large American flags, bald eagles, the Statue of Liberty, soldiers and fighter jets.

The post appeared roughly 40 minutes after a lengthy tirade against Pope Leo XIV (the first American pope, elected in May 2025), which followed a 60 Minutes segment on the Pope and a U.S. cardinal’s opposition to the war in Iran and Trump’s immigration policies.

The unhinged president branded the Pope "WEAK on crime" and "terrible for Foreign Policy” and expressed frustration with the Pope’s opposition to the war in Iran, stating he didn't want a pope who is "OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump claimed that without his own presence in the White House, "Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican," suggesting the Church chose an American pope specifically to deal with his administration.

While backlash over the post came from a majority of Democrats, several Republicans and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene denounced the post on X, calling it an "Antichrist spirit" and "more than blasphemy.”

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops criticized the "disparaging words" about the Holy Father, while other critics labeled the AI image a "cult of personality dressed up as Christianity.”

Speaking to reporters on a papal flight to Africa on Monday, April 12, Pope Leo XIV stated he has "no fear" of the administration and that the Gospel's message should not be "abused" for political purposes.

Trump has previously shared AI-generated images of himself in religious or high-authority contexts, such as one depicting him in papal robes in May 2025, following the death of Pope Francis.

The Pontiff refused to dignify the president’s words, telling reporters, “I will not enter into debate. The things that I say are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone. The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ I will not shy away from announcing the message of the Gospel and inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation, and looking for ways to avoid war any time that’s possible.”

Others weren’t as diplomatic as the Pope.

“Not even Hitler or Mussolini attacked the Pope so directly and publicly,” Massimo Faggioli, an expert on the papacy, said in a statement to Reuters.

Bishop Robert Barron, who serves on Trump’s Commission on Religious Liberty, has publicly stated that the POTUS "owes the Pope an apology."