Administration

Trump ‘not a big fan’ of Riley Gaines after AI Jesus image criticism

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by Ryan Mancini - 04/14/26 10:18 AM ET

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by Ryan Mancini - 04/14/26 10:18 AM ET

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President Trump on Monday said his decision to take down a controversial AI post depicting him as a Jesus-like figure was not based on criticism from conservatives like GOP activist Riley Gaines.

Gaines wrote on social platform X that Trump’s post “missed the mark” but that its deletion was “amazing” before offering the president praise and writing that “we’re imperfect people. I know I am.”

“I don’t get my feelings hurt easy and I know with the President it’s really not personal,” she continued, adding later that she wants “to spend eternity in a real place called Heaven” and would “love for Trump to be there too.”

The president told CBS News that it was not because of Gaines or others’ comments that the post was ultimately removed, adding, “I’m not a big fan of Riley, actually.”

The activist initially questioned if he “actually” thought he resembled Jesus Christ, writing on X that she “cannot understand why he’d post this.”

“Either way, two things are true,” the conservative wrote. “1) a little humility would serve him well 2) God shall not be mocked.”

The image Trump shared to Truth Social was rendered to look like a painting as it shows the president, dressed in a long white robe wearing a red shawl over his shoulders, pressing his hand on a man’s forehead as he lies down in what resembles a hospital bed. Light shines from where his hand touches the man’s head.

A nurse, a soldier, a bearded man and a young woman surround Trump, with the young woman holding her hands together in prayer. Two bald eagles fly near the corners of the image, with the American flag and fighter jets seen across the sky.

Ghostly figures depicting service members also appear to emerge from the sky as sunlight pierces through clouded skies. Fireworks are displayed over the Statue of Liberty and the Lincoln Memorial.

This post sparked outcry from several conservatives and Christians who called the post blasphemous before it was taken down. Trump later said he “thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with the Red Cross, as a Red Cross worker there, which we support.”

“Only the fake news could come up with that one,” the president added. “I just heard about it, and I said how did they come up with that? It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better and I do make people better.”

The religious depiction of the president follows his clash with Pope Leo XIV, who has been openly critical of the U.S.-Israeli joint strikes on Iran. Trump has accused the pope of being “terrible on Foreign Policy” and claimed in a post on Truth Social Sunday that if he “wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”

“I’m not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for,” the pontiff told reporters on Monday.

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