Trump’s Vatican clash and AI Jesus ‘blasphemy’ is fueling a GOP holy war: ‘He should not be treating the Pope as a rival’

NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsAnalysisTrump’s Vatican clash and AI Jesus ‘blasphemy’ is fueling a GOP holy war: ‘He should not be treating the Pope as a rival’Trump’s latest attack on the Holy Father and depicting himself as Christ has plenty of Republicans squirming in their seats, Eric Garcia writesTuesday 14 April 2026 17:48 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":"b2957488","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/republicans-trump-pope-leo-jesus-b2957488.html","title":"Trump’s Vatican clash and AI Jesus ‘blasphemy’ is fueling a GOP holy war"},"popoverPlacementOverride":"bottom"}CloseTrump responds to Jesus picture backlash and refuses to apologise to Pope LeoSign 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":"receiveInsideWash...