Right-wing, right-leaning, and conservative Christian commentators denounced a Truth Social post by President Donald Trump that depicts him as a Jesus-like figure, calling it “blasphemous,” “horrific,” and “completely inappropriate” and urging him to delete it. Trump subsequently deleted the post and said it was “supposed to be me as a doctor.”
Andrea Austria / Media Matters
Research/Study
Right-wing media accuse Trump of “blasphemy” over a post that appeared to depict Trump as Jesus
“Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander: Trump is “presenting as the Antichrist”
Written by Gideon Taaffe & Payton Armstrong
Research contributions from Alex Kaplan
Published
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Donald Trump posted — and then deleted — an image seemingly depicting him as Jesus. It's not the first time he's compared himself to a religious figure.
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- Trump posted a photo depicting himself as a “Jesus-like figure” after he attacked Pope Leo XIV over his comments about U.S. foreign policy and the war in Iran. The image also depicted Trump, “with divine light emanating from his hands,” touching the head of a man in a hospital bed. [The Guardian, 4/13/26]
- Trump deleted the image after drawing backlash from right-wing media figures and others. Trump defended posting the image, claiming it depicted him not as Jesus but as a doctor, saying, “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better.” [Mediaite, 4/13/26; The Hill, 4/13/26]
- The Washington Post: “One administration official … said it was going too far for Trump to post such an image of himself, even though some of his most loyal MAGA supporters have cast him in quasi-messianic terms.” The anonymous staffer said, “Other people at these Trump rallies do it for him, but when you do it yourself, … it’s sacrilegious at best.” [The Washington Post, 4/13/26]
- Trump has previously shared posts depicting himself as or comparing himself to religious figures. Trump has previously posted an image depicting himself as the pope, shared a post of a drawing of Jesus beside him in court, and shared a post that claimed “Jesus is the Greatest. President @realDonaldTrump is the second greatest.” In March, Trump posted a 2007 video that had circulated in “prophetic” Christian circles for years suggesting he was chosen by God to be president and that God would “put him in office.” [PBS, 5/5/25; New York magazine, 10/3/23; Business Insider, 9/24/22; Media Matters, 3/13/26]
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Media figures criticized Trump’s post as “blasphemous,” “sacrilegious,” and “completely inappropriate”
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- Daily Wire host Michael Knowles said Trump’s post was “sacrilegious.” Knowles: “But the post is sacrilegious. It just is. It's just inescapable. It's just a sacrilegious post. To put oneself in the position of Christ is just sacrilegious.” [The Daily Wire, The Michael Knowles Show, 4/13/26]
- On The Ingraham Angle, Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo said, “The image on its face is sacrilegious.” He caveated, “This was much ado about nothing and it all could have been avoided.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 4/13/26]
- SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly called the post an “obvious misstep,” “completely inappropriate,” and “blasphemous.” Kelly: “What we didn't know was coming was the absolutely absurd, offensive meme. AI-generated version of a picture showing Donald Trump as Jesus,” adding, “It is obviously him purporting to be God. That is what he’s doing. And it is blasphemous by any definition of that word.” [SiriusXM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 4/13/26]
- Right-wing podcaster and former pastoral intern Joshua Haymes called the post “blasphemy” and said that Trump “does not strike me as the type of man who is in love with his savior Jesus.” Haymes added: “When I first saw the picture, I just, I hated it. I hated it so much. I didn't like it at all. It screamed blasphemy, honestly. … It's good for us as Christians to voice that and make it very clear that hey, we are not going to accept blasphemy from our president.” [Real America’s Voice, The Charlie Kirk Show, 4/14/26; The Guardian, 8/22/25]
- The Charlie Kirk Show producer Blake Neff: “We should not have a president who gleefully blasphemes the faith of, by far, the vast majority of his supporters.” Neff said, “I really don't like the post he made. … I'm glad he did delete it. As you say, he shouldn't be doing that. We should expect better of him. We should not have a president who gleefully blasphemes the faith of, by far, the vast majority of his supporters.” [Real America’s Voice, The Charlie Kirk Show, 4/14/26]
- Right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson said, “I'm also offended when anyone projects themselves as Christ or as Christ or God incarnate.” He continued: “You shouldn't want that. It's something that you should absolutely avoid. It cuts fundamentally against the tenets of Christendom and Christianity, heresy and blasphemy.” He added, “I don’t like it. I mean, you know, it is what it is.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 4/13/26]
- Sean Feucht, a self-described Christian nationalist, called the image “horrific” and said, “I know God is STILL using him. But our allegiance is to Jesus and we just can’t stand for this.” Feucht, who recently announced on a livestream a “revival” tour of prayer events in partnership with the federal government for the country’s 250th celebration, also noted that he has “stood by the President & prayed over him many times throughout the years.” [Instagram, 4/13/26; Right Wing Watch, 4/21/23, 2/11/26; Media Matters, 9/14/23]
- Conservative Christian influencer Allie Beth Stuckey called the image “blasphemous.” In a separate post, Stuckey said Trump posting the image is “what happens when Paula White is your personal pastor and people around you are continually comparing you to Christ.” [Instagram, 4/13/26, 4/13/26; Salon, 12/1/25; Media Matters, 7/14/22]
- On The Brian Kilmeade Show, Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts commented, “I would not have posted that picture.” Host Brian Kilmeade agreed, saying, “I’m not for that picture either, I’m just seeing it now.” [Fox News Audio, The Brian Kilmeade Show, 4/13/26]
- The panel on PBD Podcast, a right-leaning podcast, questioned Trump’s post and questioned whether the image showed “the Antichrist” or “a demon.” Panelist Vincent Oshana commented, “God will not be mocked. … I'm not a fan of that and putting it there and then adding the demon, whatever the heck that is in the back.” Panelist Tom Ellsworth seemingly tried to dismiss criticism, saying, “If this was Mother Teresa here, no one has any trouble with it. … I can’t read into it. … I don't see it religiously.” Host Patrick Bet-David interjected, saying, “I don't know if I like it … when it comes down to certain things, like, with God, I don't know if I'm messing with this. Leave this one alone. You know? Go and see yourself above every other man.” [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 4/13/26; Media Matters, 5/13/24]
- On Newsmax, radio host Brett Winterble called the Trump post “gratuitous.” Winterble: “As a Catholic, you know, I am somebody who is supportive of the president and supportive of Pope Leo. And I think, you know, the reality is, you know, the imagery that we just saw I thought was gratuitous.” [Newsmax, Bianca Across the Nation, 4/13/26]
- Far-right pastor and YouTuber Joel Webbon responded to the post by posting, “I genuinely believe Trump is currently demon possessed.” Webbon has pushed Christian nationalism, declaring on his podcast last year that “Christian, you are allowed to have a country” and that America is “not for Hindus. It's not for Muslims. And it's not for Jews. It belongs to Christians.” [Bluesky, 4/13/26; The Christian Post, 3/14/25]
- White nationalist streamer Stew Peters shared the post and wrote, “This is blasphemous.” [Telegram, 4/12/26; Media Matters, 3/13/23]
- “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander called Trump’s post “blasphemous” and questioned if Trump “really is the antichrist.” Alexander said: “This image is laden with Antichristic metaphor. Laden. And it's strange that, again, me, Mr. January 6, have been called in the past two weeks in particular to say, I think that Trump is either, one, toying with Christians to pretend he's the Antichrist or he really is the Antichrist. And we have got to take it seriously. I can't be embarrassed because he's presenting as the Antichrist.” Alexander also claimed, “It's quite possible that Donald Trump was trying to trigger a civil war on January 6. It's quite possible that what he organized for us was chaos and destruction.” [Telegram, 4/13/26, 4/13/26; Media Matters, 12/12/21; YouTube, ABC News, 12/9/21]
- The Daily Wire's Megan Basham called the post “OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy” and said, “He needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.” Basham, who The Washington Post described as “a prominent conservative Protestant Christian writer and commentator,” added: “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.” [The Washington Post, 4/13/26; The Daily Wire, accessed 4/14/26]
- Outkick podcast host Riley Gaines: “God shall not be mocked.” Gaines wrote: “Why? Seriously, I cannot understand why he'd post this. Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this? Either way, two things are true. 1) a little humility would serve him well 2) God shall not be mocked.” [Mediaite, 4/13/26]
- Podcaster and Gateway Pundit author Victor Nieves commented, “This is BLASPHEMY and the church needs to stand against it.” [Mediaite, 4/13/26]
- Fox News' Joey Jones: “That picture is looney tunes.” Jones added, “I don’t clutch pearls or feign outrage I think all politicians are narcissistic by nature. But cmon amigo, no unforced errors would be great!” [Mediaite, 4/13/26]