5 Christian Figures React to Trump Post that Sparked Jesus Comparisons

Albert Mohler, president, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“President Trump clearly, obviously needs some very clear control when it comes to a social media presence,” Mohler said Tuesday on his podcast, The Briefing.

On Friday, Mohler returned to the issue, responding to listeners who said he should have labeled it blasphemous.

“When you do look at the robes and all the rest, let's just say it was blasphemous – whether it was intended or not, it was blasphemous.”

Mohler described it as “another sign of bad leadership and misjudgment and, frankly, of self-aggrandizing.”

“We're just talking about a recklessness in terms of leadership,” Mohler said. “Honestly, I don't know how to categorize many things coming from the White House and directly from the president, because I don't know how much of it is reflecting deep thought and intentionality and how much of it is just, quite frankly, ‘This looks interesting, and I'll repost it.’”

Mohler also criticized a Trump Easter post directed at Iran that included the f-word and included the phrase “Praise be to Allah.” Mohler described it as an “absolutely profane, profane posting on social media.”

Photo Credit: ©Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Franklin Graham, President of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

“I do not believe President Trump would knowingly depict himself as Jesus Christ – that would certainly be inappropriate,” Graham wrote on X/Twitter. “I’m thankful the President has made it very clear that this was not at all what he thought the AI-generated image was representing – he thought it was a doctor helping someone, and when he learned of the concerns, he immediately removed the post.

“When I looked at the illustration, I didn’t jump to the same conclusion as some. There were no spiritual references – no halo, no crosses, no angels. It was a flag, soldiers, a nurse, fighter planes, eagles, the Statue of Liberty, and I think this is a lot to do about nothing. There is so much ill-intended speculation. I think his enemies are always foaming at the mouth at any possible opportunity to make him look bad.

“And the illustration from someone else he reposted on Truth Social yesterday, I must say that I like the fact that this is a picture of Jesus whispering in his ear, or at least His hand on his shoulder, guiding him. We all need that—we all need to be listening to Jesus. Again, I think there is an attempt to spin this into something that it isn’t. Remember, President Trump didn’t draw this, he didn’t create it, he reposted it on his social media because he thought it was nice—I would have to agree.

“I’m not a Catholic, I’m an evangelical, but I appreciate how President Trump has defended religious freedom for people of all faiths, including millions of evangelicals and Catholics in the U.S. and around the world. He is the most pro-Christian, pro-life president in my lifetime, and he doesn’t shy away from it. I would hope that the President and Pope Leo can meet at some point, and that the Pope would have the opportunity to thank the President for his efforts to protect religious liberty for Catholics and people of all faiths.”

I had received some questions about President @realDonaldTrump's recent posts, and here are my thoughts:

I do not believe President Trump would knowingly depict himself as Jesus Christ—that would certainly be inappropriate. I’m thankful the President has made it very clear that…

— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) April 16, 2026

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla/Staff

Allie Beth Stuckey, host, Relatable podcast

“That image is what happens when Paula White is your personal pastor and people around you are continually comparing you to Christ,” Stuckey wrote on X/Twitter. “Trump desperately needs to understand the bad news that precedes the Good News: you are a helpless sinner in desperate need of a Savior, as we all once were.”

That image is what happens when Paula White is your personal pastor and people around you are continually comparing you to Christ. Trump desperately needs to understand the bad news that precedes the Good News: you are a helpless sinner in desperate need of a Savior, as we all…

— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) April 13, 2026

Later, after Trump explained his intent with the post, Stuckey added, “I do believe that he didn’t think of this as a depiction of Jesus when posting. Still, there has to be more care and discernment here.”

©Getty Images/Jason Kempin/Staff

Denny Burk, professor of biblical studies at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and president of the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood

“It’s hard to imagine anything more gauche or tasteless than this meme,” Burk wrote at World Opinions. “It’s also difficult to imagine anything more blasphemous. And it doesn’t really matter what the president’s intentions were in posting it. It’s an execrable piece of sacrilege that no one should be trying to justify. Nevertheless, some are. … We can only speculate what is going through the president’s mind when he posts such images as this one. I suspect he thinks it’s both funny and a zinger against the pope. And his defenders apparently think so as well. But why would any professing Christian think that such a motivation would justify blasphemy? They would do well to realize that this kind of insolence does not sit well with heaven. … God will not be mocked (Galatians 6:7).

"It’s hard to imagine anything more gauche or tasteless than this meme. It’s also difficult to imagine anything more blasphemous. And it doesn’t really matter what the president’s intentions were in posting it," @DennyBurk argues:https://t.co/PQ8tY40KbT

— WORLD (@WNGdotorg) April 14, 2026

“... Making blasphemy great again is not going to go well for anyone – neither for President Trump nor for those who defend his outrageous irreverence. There will be a reckoning, and the usual excuses – ‘he’s a president, not a pastor, he’s just joking, people are just pearl-clutching’ – are not going to hold water in the final assize. They will be obliterated in judgment along with anyone still clinging to them.”

Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House

“I talked to the President about it as soon as I saw it, and told him that I don't think it was being received in the same way he intended it,” Johnson said. “He agreed, and he pulled it down. That was the right thing to do. He explained how he saw that, and I don't think he thought it was sacrilegious at all.”

Mike Johnson responds to Trump's Jesus post:

I don't think Trump thought it was sacrilegious at all. I think he showed great respect to others by removing it pic.twitter.com/GKyPNELltg

— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) April 14, 2026

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla / Staff