A post on President Donald Trump's social media page depicting him as a Christ-like savior appeared to have been removed after swift pushback, some of it from his own supporters.
The picture, posted Sunday night, depicted Trump in a robe with his hand on the forehead of a bedridden man. Light surrounds the man's head, and an orb of light floats in Trump's other hand. An American flag and the Statue of Liberty adorn the backdrop.
Asked by a reporter Monday whether he posted the picture, Trump said, "I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross."
"Only the fake news could come up with that one, so I just heard about it, and I said, 'How did they come up with that?'" Trump said of comparisons between the image and Jesus. "It's supposed to be me as a doctor."
The White House did not immediately respond to a question about the deleted post.
Trump explained in an interview with CBS News on Monday why he took down the post.
“Normally I don’t like doing that, but I didn’t want to have anybody be confused,” he said. “People were confused.”
The Truth Social post came shortly after Trump criticized Pope Leo XIV, saying “I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo” and calling the pope on Truth Social “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Leo responded that he had “no fear of the Trump administration.”
Asked by a reporter whether he would apologize to Leo, Trump said no.
"No, I don't, because Pope Leo said things that are wrong," Trump said. "He was very much against what I'm doing with regard to Iran, and you cannot have a nuclear Iran. Pope Leo would not be happy with the end result."
He reiterated that he believed the pope was "very weak on crime."
The picture drew swift condemnation in the hours after Trump posted, some of it from conservatives who have backed him, over Trump's seeming to compare himself to God or Jesus.
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called the post "an Antichrist spirit." Conservative activist Riley Gaines said she "cannot understand why he'd post this."
"Is he looking for a response?" she said on X. "Does he actually think this? Either way, two things are true. 1) a little humility would serve him well 2) God shall not be mocked."
Some Truth Social users criticized him in the comments of his post. One user demanded that Trump take down the photo and urged him to "offer an apology to Christians for this mockery." The comment garnered more than 9,000 likes.
Trump has frequently posted pictures and videos that also appear to have been generated by artificial intelligence. Last year, Trump posted an image that appeared to be AI-generated depicting himself as pope. That post, too, drew condemnation from Catholics, who were mourning the death of Pope Francis, who died just weeks earlier.
Trump has in the past compared himself to Jesus, including at an Easter luncheon this year.
“On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem as crowds welcomed him with praise, honoring him as king,” he said in a video that was posted and later removed from the White House YouTube page. “They call me king now. Can you believe it?”
In the same remarks, Trump also discussed Jesus’ having been “arrested and betrayed.”
"He was really betrayed. We know the feeling. Many of the people in this room know the feeling — many of the people in this room went through hell," he said.
