Riley Gaines comes to Trump’s defense after he rips her criticism of AI-generated Jesus post

NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsRiley Gaines comes to Trump’s defense after he rips her criticism of AI-generated Jesus postPresident Donald Trump denied being influenced by Fox host’s post protesting his meme, saying he was ‘not a fan’ of hers, eliciting a surprisingly generous response Joe Sommerlad Tuesday 14 April 2026 13:53 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2957352","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/riley-gaines-trump-jesus-meme-b2957352.html","title":"Riley Gaines defends Trump after he rips her criticism of Jesus post"}}CloseDonald Trump claims offensive Jesus meme was him 'as a doctor' healing the sickSign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_INSIDE_WASHINGTON","regTitle":"Inside Washington","subscriptionGroup":"inside_washington","subscriptionGroupId":"af764e04-87eb-45e6-a84b-a7455ba70a1e","type":"inside_washington","pathPrefix":"/news/world/americas/us-politics","associatedAuthors":["Eric Garcia","John Bowden"],"title":"Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Washington email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/insideWashington1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideWashingtonNews","regSourceSection":"US politic...