Trump gets warning after posting photo of Jesus hugging AI; evangelical leader says ‘I’m grateful’

Trump was forced to delete the first image due to backlash.

“I appreciate the president clarifying that this was not his intention at all and removing the post,” Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, told Newsweek on Wednesday.

The photo shows Jesus with an arm around Trump’s shoulders and a hand on his chest, with the two figures leaning against each other against a glowing background with an American flag.

“The radical left crazies may not like this, but I think it’s pretty good!!! President DJT,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“This should be removed immediately. There is no context in which this behavior is acceptable,” Christian activist Sean Feucht wrote on X.

MAGA influencer Riley Gaines took issue with the article on Monday, writing: “Why? I honestly don’t understand why he posted this. Is he looking for a response? Does he really think so? Regardless, two things are true. 1) A little humanity would do him good 2) God is not to be laughed at.”

“This is outrageous. It crosses the line,” Christian Broadcasting Network reporter David Brody wrote on the X . “Supporters can support the mission, but they can also reject it.”

“I wonder if the president thought he was funny, or if he was under the influence of a substance, or what possible explanation he had for this heinous act of profanity,” conservative author and commentator Megan Basham wrote. “But he needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and from God.”

“I think that’s a reflection of who I am as a doctor,” he said. “You know, it’s fun to play a doctor and make people better. So that’s what people think. That’s what most people think.”

The president added that he removed the image to avoid confusion and blamed media coverage for amplifying the controversy.

“I don’t want to confuse anyone,” he said, blaming the backlash on “fake news.”