Trump angered some ardent supporters with AI image appearing to depict him as Jesus

Donald TrumpTrump angered some ardent supporters with AI image appearing to depict him as JesusThe president was accused of "blasphemy" by evangelical Christians who have been his more ardent supportersListen to this article with a free account00:0000:00President Donald Trump.Rebecca Noble / Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 13, 2026, 7:03 PM EDTBy Corky Siemaszko and Megan LebowitzA social media backlash wasn't enough to convince President Donald Trump to apologize or back down from his feud with Pope Leo.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.But he did remove the AI-generated image he posted of himself as a Christ-like figure, after some of his most ardent Christian supporters accused him of blasphemy.“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 OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy,” Megan Basham, a prominent conservative Protestant Christian writer and commentator, posted on X. “But he needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.”Even some in the right-wing media sphere were aghast.“I support Trump, and I spend 8 hours a day defending him. I will not defend blasphemy,” conservative political commentator Cam Higby posted on X, urging the president to take the post down.The image depicted Trump in a white robe with a red sash, with one hand on the forehead of a bedridden man. An orb of light floats in the president’s other hand, along with an American flag and the Statue of Liberty in the background.The response was swift.“Why?” Riley Gaines, the former collegiate swimmer turned conservative podcaster who has led the charge against trans women in sports, posted. “Seriously, I cannot understand why he’d post this. Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this?”Gaines wrote that “a little humility would serve him...