Donald Trump’s pivot to blasphemy |
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Donald Trump’s pivot to blasphemy
Attacking the pope and posing as Jesus — even religious conservatives are mad this time.
To celebrate the second Sunday of Easter, President Donald Trump appears to have decided that blasphemy might be the best option.
Late Sunday evening, Trump posted a wordy attack of Pope Leo XIV on Truth Social, saying the first American-born leader of the Roman Catholic Church was “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Leo, by criticizing the joint US-Israeli war on Iran, is apparently “catering to the Radical Left,” “hurting the Catholic Church,” and encouraging Iran to develop nuclear weapons. “I am not a fan of Pope Leo,” Trump later told reporters.
President Donald Trump on Sunday escalated preexisting tensions between the Vatican and his government by criticizing Pope Leo XIV, calling him “weak” and in the service of the “Radical Left” for criticizing the US-Israeli war on Iran.
It was the most direct attack yet he’s made on the pontiff, and sparked criticism from Catholics, including Republicans who have supported Trump before.
That backlash only grew among other evangelical Christians and religious conservatives when Trump posted an AI-generated image casting himself as Jesus Christ. He deleted that image on Monday.
It’s an unforced move that is causing new consternation among the religious right.
It’s his most aggressive and direct attack yet on the Vicar of Christ, who has been uncharacteristically vocal this year in his criticism of militaristic foreign policy, including making a direct appeal to the president to end the conflict in Iran and promote peace and respect for human life. The pope indicated he would not back down, telling reporters he had “no fear” of the White House. And he threw in a little barb as well, calling the Truth Social posts “ironic”: “The name of the site itself. Say no more.”
Picking a fight with the spiritual leader for more than 50 million Americans was a risky move, if not unprecedented for Trump, and he faced immediate pushback from some otherwise right-leaning Catholics.
But somehow, things only got worse from there: Trump followed up with an AI-generated image depicting him as Jesus Christ healing the sick, as he’s flanked by symbols of America and both military and spiked figures floating like angels behind him.
It was that second sacrilege........