Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Tuesday he asked that President Donald Trump take down an AI-generated image he’d posted on social media depicting himself as Jesus.
“I did ask him to delete it,” Johnson said.
The picture Trump posted late Sunday featured him in flowing robes touching his hand to the forehead of a sick man in a hospital bed, flanked by a nurse, a soldier and a Trump supporter looking toward him with reverence. It came the same day Trump blasted the Pope as being “WEAK on crime.”
It was quickly deleted Monday morning after significant criticism from Christian commentators. Johnson, a devout Christian, and members of his GOP leadership circle, which includes several Catholics, immediately received phone calls from lawmakers, constituents and church groups incensed about the post, according to three people granted anonymity to share private conversations.
Trump denied a resemblance to Jesus and told reporters that he thought he was being depicted as a doctor.
