In recent weeks President Donald Trump has sparked debate over some of the controversial religious statements and actions that he has recently made. Although Trump usually offers an explanation for any remarks made, this latest issue has caused more concern than usual.
On Monday April 13th, Trump posted an image of him depicted as Jesus. The image consisted of him in white robe, a red mantle, and his hand touching the forehead of a sick man that Trump appears to heal through a miracle. The image was posted on Trump’s X account and was taken down shortly.
The post takedown was considered a “rare retreat” for Trump after multiple people online began commenting on the image. In a later CBS interview, Trump continued to relay the same explanation, which was that he thought the image was made by a talented artist who made him out to be a doctor and Trump defended the post takedown by saying “I didn’t want to have anybody be confused. People were confused.”
The image sparked backlash from religious leaders and Christian supporters after Trump had used the same account to post about Pope Leo XIV over his comments about the US-Iran war.
On Sunday April 12th (one day before posting the religious image), Trump lashed out at Pope Leo’s criticisms on the Iran war in a social media post, calling the Pope “WEAK on crime, and terrible for foreign policy.”
Trump claimed that Leo was only elected the pope because he was an American and it was believed that Leo being chosen would be the best way of dealing with himself (Trump).
Trump stated that Pope Leo should “get his act together as Pope, use common sense, stop catering to the radical left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a politician.”
Bishop Robert Barron, a member of Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, called Trump’s post “entirely inappropriate and disrespectful” and said “the President owes the Pope an apology.”
While the image of Trump depicted of Jesus has been taken down, Trump’s comments over Pope Leo are still up and Trump has shown no effort to apologize or take them down.
