Featured Image Credit: Salwan Georges/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Politics, News
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Politics, News
Donald Trump has doubled down on his controversial Jesus Christ comparison.
Over the weekend, the Republican leader shared an AI-generated photo with no context, which seemed to depict him as a religious figure.
Unsurprisingly, the upload - which showed Trump flanked by several symbols of America, donning red and white robes and appearing to heal a man - caused quite the stir, with many believers slamming it as 'blasphemous'.
"Equating yourself to Jesus? You'll burn in hell," one user hit out. A second added: "If you call yourself a Christian and you're not outraged by this, you really need to re-evaluate your faith."
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Despite removing the odd image the following day, Trump, 79, was later asked about its meaning by reporters outside the White House.
According to The Independent, he responded: "I viewed that as a picture of me being a doctor.
"You know, as a little fun, playing the doctor and making people better. So that’s what it was viewed as. That’s what most people thought."
He added: "It's supposed to be me as a doctor making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better."
Trump has since defended his stance by sharing another image of himself posing alongside Jesus.
Taking to Truth Social on Wednesday evening (15 Apr), the father-of-five reposted a tweet originally uploaded by a fan account called 'Irish for Trump', which included an animated image of the President with closed eyes, leaning into the Christian figure. Behind the pair, a star-spangled banner waves.
The user captioned the picture: "I was never a very religious man... but doesn't it seem, with all these satanic, demonic, child sacrificing monsters being exposed ... that God might be playing his Trump card!"
Re-sharing the post, Trump wrote a message himself.
"The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!!" he gushed before signing off, 'President DJT'.
Asked previously why he removed his initial comparison to Jesus, Trump told CBS News, per the BBC, earlier this week that he 'didn't want to have anybody be confused', adding: "People were confused."
Addressing the backlash he faced, he slammed the 'fake news' for causing the stir online.
"I thought it was me as a doctor. Only the fake news could come up with that," Trump hit out.
Tyla contacted the White House for comment.