Donald Trump has addressed the AI-generated image he shared on social media that many interpreted as him presenting himself as Jesus.
The president recently took aim at Pope Leo on Truth Social, accusing the Catholic leader of being ‘weak on crime’ and raising a number of other grievances.
His criticism went further, writing: “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, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History.”
Pope Leo, the first American to hold the role, has not yet publicly responded to Trump’s comments.
Not long after posting about the pontiff, Trump uploaded an AI-made image in which he appeared in a Jesus-like appearance. The post was later removed following backlash.
Among those condemning it was Conservative commentator Carmine Sabia.
“I support Trump on most things but I will forever support my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ before any man or woman,” he raged. “What Trump did is reprehensible. I cannot imagine the narcissism it takes to post that.”
Teenage MAGA influencer Brilyn Hollyhand also criticized Trump, describing the AI image as ‘gross blasphemy’.
She continued, per Newsweek: “Faith is not a prop. You don’t need to portray yourself as a savior when your record should speak for itself. The same God who saved Trump’s life from that bullet sent His son Jesus to die for our sins.
“He died for Trump just as much as for you and I.”
Trump has since spoken about the image, claiming it was meant to show him ‘as a doctor’.
In video shared by Newsweek, a reporter asks whether he had posted a picture depicting him as Jesus.
“Well, it wasn’t a depiction. It was me- I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor,” he replied, adding: “It had to do with the Red Cross. There’s a Red Cross worker, which we support.”
He then dismissed the interpretation as ‘fake news’, denying that he intended to portray himself as Jesus.
He continued to share: “I just heard about it and said, ‘How did they come up with that?’
“It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better. And I do make people better. I make a lot of people better.”
Trump also explained why he took the post down, saying he removed it to avoid people being ‘confused’.
He said, per CBS News: “Normally I don’t like doing that, but I didn’t want to have anybody be confused. People were confused.”