J.D. Vance Fiercely Defends Donald Trump After He Posted AI-Generated Photo of Himself as Jesus

Vice President J.D. Vance defended President Donald Trump’s widely condemned posting of an AI-generated image depicting him as a Jesus-like figure by characterizing it as a "joke" that was misunderstood.

The controversial image of the POTUS was widely blasted as blasphemous, showing Trump in white robes placing a glowing hand on a sick man, was shared shortly after Trump publicly criticized Pope Leo XIV as being "weak on crime" and "terrible for foreign policy."

While Vance framed the post as a joke, Trump offered a different explanation to reporters, claiming he believed the image depicted him as a doctor or Red Cross worker.

Appearing on Fox News’ Special Report on Monday, April 13, Vance addressed the controversy following widespread backlash from religious leaders and political figures.

“Trump was posting a joke and, of course, he took it down because he recognized that a lot of people weren’t understanding his humor in that case,” he said.

The defense came on the heels of some very embarrassing losses for the veep, including his failure to negotiate a peace deal with Iran in Pakistan and his campaigning for Hungarian dictator Viktor Orban on American taxpayers' dime just before he lost in a landslide defeat.

The post drew sharp rebukes from high-profile supporters, including former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who called it blasphemous, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who described Trump's comments about the Pope as "disparaging."

Although Trump eventually removed the photo, it instantly became a meme of ridicule and hilarity, not in the way Vance attempted to reframe it, but because he attempted to spin himself as a medical professional.

Vance stated that Trump only removed the post because he realized "a lot of people weren't understanding his humor.”

He praised Trump’s tendency to "mix it up on social media," calling it a strength that makes the president "not filtered" and allows him to reach out directly to the public without a communications professional.

Addressing the ongoing tension with Pope Leo XIV, Vance, a practicing Catholic, suggested the Vatican should "stick to matters of morality" and let the president handle public policy.

"J.D. Vance’s attempt to dismiss Donald Trump’s self-portrayal as Jesus as 'just a joke' does not make it any less blasphemous. Blasphemy does not cease to be blasphemy simply because it is delivered with a smirk or defended as humor. Worse still, the Antichrist is biblically described as one who will present himself as a prophet or man of God while deceiving many," explained retired psychology professor Cecil Duncan on X.

"Trump’s attacks on the Pope — for doing precisely what a Pope should do: preaching the Gospel and condemning the evils of war — are inexcusable. They reveal a profound lack of Christian character, theological understanding, and basic reverence for the faith he claims to defend. This behavior deserves the widespread condemnation it has received. It is not clever political theater; it is a serious affront to Christianity itself," Duncan explained.

This came after Vance himself, a converted Catholic, made an embarrassing blunder during a Budapest press conference, claiming he did not know Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Pope’s personal representative who managed relations between the Vatican and the U.S. government.

After being informed that Pierre was the Apostolic Nuncio (Vatican Ambassador) to the U.S., Vance backtracked, stating he "didn't remember the name.”

Vance was also mocked for the cover of his upcoming memoir, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, which chronicles his journey to Catholicism. The church featured on the cover is actually Mount Zion United Methodist Church in Elk Creek, Va.