President Donald Trump holds a Bible during a visit outside St. John’s Church across Lafayette Park from the White House in Washington on June 1, 2020.Patrick Semansky/AP
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President Donald Trump shared what appears to be an AI-generated image of Jesus hugging him on social media on Wednesday morning, just days after he was widely condemned for sharing a picture depicting himself as a Christ-like figure.
He wrote in the post: “The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!! President DJT.” The image comes from an account on X named “Irish for Trump” with the handle @Dkelly4congress, in reference to a Republican who unsuccessfully ran for the US House in 2024. The account also appears to be associated with the dive bar Croke Park in Boston, Massachusetts.
Since posting his earlier image on Monday, which was part of his bizarre remarks against Pope Leo XIV over the US-Israeli war in Iran, Trump told reporters that he believed the post actually portrayed him “as a doctor” and “had to do with [the humanitarian nonprofit] Red Cross.” The post was deleted later on Monday following backlash, with many of his own supporters voicing criticisms.
But Trump appears to have doubled down on Wednesday, and JD Vance has backed the president.
“He took [the Monday post] down because he recognized that a lot of people weren’t understanding his humor,” Vance told Fox News’ Bret Baier on Monday. “I think the president of the United States likes to mix it up on social media.”
Vance also criticized the pope, saying in the same interview that the Vatican should stick to “matters of morality” and “what’s going on in the Catholic Church” and “let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy.”
On Tuesday, Vance said the pope should “be careful” when talking about theology, asserting it was wrong for Leo to say Jesus “is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”
Sure JD, the pope definitely doesn’t know about theology.
As my colleague Kiera Butler wrote last week, the Trump administration’s war in Iran, as well as the absurd justifications of the military effort, is tearing apart his solid coalition of Catholic and evangelical Protestants. According to an Ipsos and Reuters survey released on Tuesday, only 55 percent of Republicans said they believed the war was worth the costs.
