Blasphemy on Truth Social: A Bridge Too Far

This is your TPM evening briefing.

Apr 13, 2026

This photo illustration created on April 13, 2026 shows a picture of US President Donald Trump on a screen and an AI-generated picture he posted on his Truth Social platform depicting himself as Jesus Christ after criticizing Pope Leo XIV. Trump later posted an AI-generated image seemingly depicting himself as Jesus Christ. In the image, the president appears dressed in red and white robes as he cures a man with his healing hand. The American flag is shown over his shoulder. Trump and the White House have previously shared AI-generated images, including one that showed the president dressed as the pope. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images). TPM illustration/Getty Images.

‘An Antichrist Spirit’

Most hardcore evangelical Christians can reverse engineer a case for why any given politician or influential emerging world leader is probably the antichrist. What’s rare is when the hysteria sticks, and there’s a consensus around why — as seems to be the case with growing sinister feelings about President Trump this week.

There have been multiple reports and think pieces in the last several weeks about the ways in which President Trump has lost his grip on a base of supporters that, famously, would’ve let him get away with shooting someone on 5th Avenue. There are now some former allies who are also questioning if he is maybe, actually the antichrist. It’s in part due to his decision to involve the United States in another regime change war in another Middle Eastern country after campaigning on a platform of isolationism. It’s also partially due to some of his social media posts that have, apparently, crossed the line for his Christian supporters.

When he posts the f-word and mockingly uses the Muslim word for God in a Truth Social post on Easter Sunday, he makes it harder for his evangelical supporters to look away. When he posts what appears to be an AI-generated painting of himself depicted as white Jesus, we’re stepping further into the territory of unforgivable blasphemy for a demographic that has long stomached his moral shortcomings for the sake of getting Roe v. Wade overturned and other cultural wins.

In a shocking turn — and what one might interpret as the rare admission of wrongdoing — the AI image President Trump posted on Truth Social over the weekend was deleted this afternoon. The image appeared to depict him in a Jesus-like role, healing a man and surrounded by adoring and prayerful Americans, including a soldier and a bunch of other patriotic imagery. He posted the image not long after he went on a tirade against Pope Leo XIV on Sunday night and it was immediately met with condemnation, both from some of his past political allies and evangelical influencers who have rarely criticized him.

“It’s more than blasphemy. It’s an Antichrist spirit,” former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) posted on Twitter on Sunday.

“I don’t know if the President thought he was being funny or if he is under the influence of some substance or what possible explanation he could have for this OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy,” wrote Megan Basham, a widely followed conservative Christian writer. “But he needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.”

“This post is, frankly, disgusting and unacceptable, but also a profound misreading of the American people experiencing a true and beautiful revival of faith in Christ in the midst of our broken culture,” Isabel Brown, a Daily Wire podcaster and a right-wing influencer whose content is consistently pro-Trump, wrote.

The post was reportedly taken down while Trump was in a meeting with his Religious Liberty Commission, according to WaPo. The commission includes prominent evangelical figures like Paula White-Cain and Rev. Franklin Graham, the son of the famous evangelist Billy Graham. I grew up within the evangelical church, and know that adherents are very serious about their reverence for depictions of Christ. (And while I can’t speak from personal experience, one might assume Catholics have deeply held opinions about whether it is appropriate to yell at the pope.) It’s possible Trump did not comprehend the gravity of the matter since he only started hanging out with conservative Christians when it became politically advantageous for him to do so.

Before the post was removed, Trump claimed to reporters at the White House that he thought the image depicted him as a doctor, not Christ himself.

“I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with Red Cross, as a Red Cross worker, which we support,” Trump said.

“It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better,” he continued, before suggesting it was “fake news” that the image showed him as Christ. It tracks that Trump might not know what the average depiction of Jesus might look like since his favorite book of the Bible is “two Corinthians” and he has not spent much time in church.

Both Greene and others who were once in Trump’s orbit — like former Fox News host Tucker Carlson — have insinuated in recent days that the angel of darkness might be kicking off Armageddon before our very eyes. Time, and The Mark, will tell.

Swalwell Resigns

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) announced he plans to resign from Congress after allegrations of sexual assault surfaced over the weekend, prompting him to drop out of the race for governor of California. The news comes as the House Ethics Committee announced it would investigate the allegrations and amid growing calls for an expulsion vote.

Judge Tosses Trump’s Lawsuit Against WSJ

A federal judge has tossed out a defamation lawsuit that President Trump tried to bring against the Wall Street Journal after it reported on a disgusting birthday message that Trump reportedly wrote for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday.

U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles said Trump came “nowhere close” to proving the “actual malice” necessary to bring a successful defamation case. “Quite the opposite,” he wrote in the decision. Per Politico:

“President Trump’s conclusory allegation that Defendants had contradictory evidence and failed to investigate is rebutted by the Article and is insufficient to establish actual malice,” the judge wrote. The actual malice standard requires Trump to prove that the Journal either knew the article was false at the time it was published or acted in reckless disregard of indications that it was likely false.