Paula White Tucker Carlson Brett Cooper

Molly Butler/Media Matters

“Heretic”: After Trump spiritual adviser Paula White-Cain likens Trump to Jesus during Easter, right-wing media figures lash out

Tucker Carlson called it “so vile” and “such a sacrilege,” while conservative influencer Brett Cooper said, “Maybe these people should not be involved in our government”

Written by Payton Armstrong

Published

Right-wing media figures are lashing out at President Donald Trump’s personal spiritual adviser and senior adviser to the White House Faith Office Paula White-Cain for likening Trump to Jesus during an Easter event, labeling her an “unabashed heretic” and “batsh*t crazy.”

White-Cain is a televangelist, pastor, and Trump’s longtime spiritual adviser who has “long been a prominent and polarizing figure in evangelical circles.” White-Cain has an extensive history of extreme rhetoric, including declaring that opposition to Trump is equivalent to opposition to God. Now a senior adviser to the White House Faith Office, White-Cain is part of Trump’s effort to expand “the power and influence of conservative Christians in government” in his second term.

At an April 1 closed-door Easter speech at the White House, White-Cain spoke next to Trump and directly likened him to Jesus, saying, “No one has paid the price like you have paid the price. It almost cost you your life. You were betrayed and arrested and falsely accused. It’s a familiar pattern that our lord and savior showed us.” The White House deleted video of the speech, which “was initially posted on the official White House website and YouTube channel,” and clips continued to circulate on social media.

On April 4, Fox host (and the president’s daughter-in-law) Lara Trump hosted White-Cain to share a message for Easter, in which she said it was her “favorite subject to talk about” to “give honor to God and to president Trump for being bold and unwavering with his faith.”

  • Right-wing media figures labeled White-Cain a “heretic” and “batsh*t crazy”

    • Right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson uploaded an episode about “Trump’s Desecration of Easter” and discussed White-Cain's comments, saying that it was “so vile” and “such a sacrilege” for her to liken Trump to Jesus and questioning, “How could the rest of us sit by and not protest when she said something like that?” He said in the episode: “It's hard to believe that's real. That is so vile. It's such a sacrilege. Standing in front of American flags in the White House with some kind of beta evangelical leader nodding along as you liken the president of the United States to Jesus, the Christian Messiah, God in human form. How could you say something like that? How could the rest of us sit by and not protest when she said something like that? How could any Christian watch that and not feel revulsion? Well, because people didn't pay attention or they didn't think about it. Oh, it's just the praise that Trump demands.” [YouTube, Tucker Carlson Show, 4/6/26, 4/6/26]
    • Conservative influencer Brett Cooper uploaded an extended video suggesting White-Cain is “batsh*t crazy” and said, “maybe these people should not be involved in our government is all I am trying to say.” Cooper, who uploaded the video with the words “batsh*t crazy” in the thumbnail next to a photo of White-Cain, played a clip showing her saying that a no to Trump is a no to God, and said, “That sounds like a cult, Paula. And I will be saying no to that.” Cooper also compared White-Cain to a character from the TV show The Righteous Gemstones, putting in the video’s description, “The Righteous Gemstones couldn’t write a character as wild as Paula White-Cain. And once you see this… you’ll understand why ‘Cain’ might be the most perfect last name imaginable.” Cooper also said that she is “understanding more and more every single day why the Founding Fathers believed in the separation of church and state, and maybe these people should not be involved in our government is all I am trying to say.” [YouTube, Brett Cooper Show, 4/3/26, accessed 4/7/26; The New York Times, 7/19/25]
    • Infowars host Alex Jones said White-Cain comparing Trump to Jesus is “a manipulation of American Christians.” Jones: “I like Trump having religious leaders. I like Trump standing up and going to National Prayer Day and going to the pro-life march and getting the IRS off the back of churches. That was all good. … But here she is likening him to Jesus. This was not very popular, so they pulled this video off the White House website.” [Infowars, Alex Jones Show, 4/2/26]
    • Right-wing podcaster Candace Owens criticized Bishop Robert Barron for appearing with White-Cain as she compared Trump to Jesus, referring to her as “an unabashed heretic.” Anti-abortion outlet LifeSiteNews reported: “The prominent Catholic bishop appeared to gesture consent to a prayer by Donald Trump’s faith adviser Paula White, who has been criticized for supporting the war in the Middle East.” [LifeSiteNews, 4/2/26; Vice, 2/11/21]
    • Turning Point USA contributor and Christian commentator Jon Root called White-Cain a “heretic” and said it was “insanity” to compare Trump to Jesus. [Christian Post, 4/2/26; Turning Point USA, accessed 4/7/26]
    • Conservative Catholic podcaster Taylor Marshall also said it was “insanity” for White-Cain to compare Trump to Jesus. [Christian Post, 4/2/26; Vanity Fair, 10/30/20]
    • Conservative pundit Erick Erickson noted that the clip of White-Cain comparing Trump to Jesus “has burned through the Christian community in a not-good way.” He added, “It's no wonder the White House took down the video from YouTube.” [Christian Post, 4/2/26]
    • Right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos referred to White-Cain as a “heretic con artist who preys on the poorest, dumbest and most desperate people in America.” [MS NOW, 4/2/26; The Guardian, 2/21/17]