Trump tests his luck with the religious right amid feud with pope and AI Jesus posts

Trump appears to have crossed a line with his Christian supporters. Will it come back to bite him in the midterms?

Donald Trump’s depiction of himself as Jesus Christ and recent spat with Pope Leo XIV could come back to bite him and the Republican party in the midterm elections, according to experts, with some newly aggrieved Christian groups set to play an outsized role in key races across the US.

The president’s Trump-as-the-Messiah Truth Social post sparked immediate criticism among some Christians, including some on the right. Trump, 79, said he thought the AI image of him administering an ethereal light to a stricken man’s head as translucent figures descended from the heavens represented him as a doctor.