It was not a joke, at least not to most people watching. President Trump brazenly posted an AI-generated image of himself on Truth Social that showed him dressed in white robes, glowing with divine light, placing his hand on a sick patient. The image looked unmistakably like Jesus Christ, and the internet noticed immediately.
The post went up shortly after Trump blasted Pope Leo XIV on Truth Social, calling the pontiff “WEAK” on crime and attacking his criticism of the U.S. war with Iran. The timing of the post was hard to ignore. Trump was picking a public fight with the Catholic Church and then posting himself as its most sacred figure.
The AI image itself was dramatic in every detail. A nurse, a soldier, a uniformed man, and a praying woman surrounded the patient’s bedside. A massive American flag, two bald eagles, and a formation of military planes filled the background behind Trump’s glowing figure.
The backlash came fast and hard. Trump then quietly panicked and deleted the post from his Truth Social account. He later tried to reframe the image, claiming it showed him as a doctor “making people better,” not as a religious figure.
That explanation did not satisfy many people. And then Vice President JD Vance stepped in to weigh in, making things worse. Vance went on Fox News’ Special Report With Bret Baier on Monday and told viewers the whole thing was simply “a joke.”
“And, of course, he took it down because he recognized that a lot of people weren’t understanding his humor in that case,” Vance said on air. “I think the president of the United States likes to mix it up on social media.” Vance also added that it was “good” that Trump is “not filtered.”
The defense did not land well. Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, was supposed to be one of the most prominent Catholic voices in the administration. Instead, he found himself on national television defending an AI image of Trump dressed as Christ, and embarrassing himself doing it.
Vance also used the moment to push back against the Vatican directly. “I certainly think that, in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality,” he said. He told the pope’s representatives to focus on “what’s going on in the Catholic Church” and leave American public policy to Trump.
When pressed on Trump’s claim that Pope Leo XIV was “catering to the Radical Left,” Vance said Trump has the “prerogative” to set immigration policy. “He has to look out for the interests of the United States of America,” Vance added, seemingly unbothered by the irony of a self-described Catholic dismissing the pope’s moral authority.
Social media did not let Vance off easy. Journalist John Harwood wrote on X that the Trump administration is “not interested in matters of morality.” Political commentator Jon Favreau followed up, writing, “Glad the Vice President clarified that he doesn’t think waging war is a matter of morality.”
Writer Polly Sigh went after Vance’s upcoming memoir about his Catholic conversion with a direct hit. “Spoken just like a fake Catholic who confused a Methodist church with a Catholic one on the cover of his book,” she wrote on X.
The feud between Trump and Pope Leo XIV had been building for over a week. The pope had previously called Trump’s claim that an “entire civilisation will die” in the war with Iran “unacceptable.” He also suggested, without naming Trump directly, that a “delusion of omnipotence” was fueling conflicts around the world.
Trump fired back hard on Truth Social. He claimed he liked the pope’s brother “much better” and went as far as suggesting that, without his own 2024 election win, the pope “wouldn’t be in the Vatican.” Shortly after that post, the AI Jesus image went up.
Pope Leo XIV responded to the Truth Social tirade with calm and confidence. He said he has “no fear of the Trump administration” and made clear he had no interest in debating Trump publicly on the matter.
Vance, notably, was one of the last world leaders to meet with Pope Francis before his passing. He had also previously used the Catholic theological concept of ordo amoris to defend the administration’s aggressive deportation policies, a position that Pope Francis directly challenged in an open letter. Now Vance finds himself in the strange position of being the Catholic face of an administration actively at war with the Catholic Church’s leadership.
What started as an inflammatory Truth Social post ended with the image deleted, the explanation unconvincing, and the Vice President of the United States on cable news calling a picture of Trump dressed as Jesus Christ a joke that people simply did not understand.
