Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) torched President Donald Trump’s evangelical ally, the Rev. Franklin Graham, on Thursday for defending the president’s now-deleted meme depicting him as a Jesus-like figure.
“Trump knows what he is doing. He knows what he posted. He knows how to manipulate his followers. And he’s not sorry, he never apologized,” Greene said in the scathing post on X. “Instead he lied, and said he was a doctor, which is also absurd.”
Trump’s stunt came amid unhinged attacks against Pope Leo XIV, who has called for peace in the Middle East. The president defended the AI-generated image, claiming he was actually depicted “as a doctor” and not as Jesus Christ.
Graham, one of Trump’s biggest right-wing religious supporters, backed the president’s defense on X following the controversy, which even some Christian right-wingers can’t get behind, claiming he does not believe the president “would knowingly depict himself as Jesus Christ — that would certainly be inappropriate.”
“When I looked at the illustration, I didn’t jump to the same conclusion as some. There were no spiritual references—no halo, there were 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,” Graham explained. “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.”
Greene accused Graham of “making excuses” for her former ally, calling his post “one of the worst things” she has seen.
“If you search ‘pictures of Jesus’ most of them show Jesus in white with a red robe over his shoulders,” Greene said.
Trump shared another controversial post following the backlash and amid his attacks on the pope, this time a screenshot of a bizarre AI-generated image of him being embraced by Jesus.
Graham also defended that post, stating he likes “the fact that this is a picture of Jesus whispering in his ear, or at least His hand on his shoulder, guiding him.”
“Franklin Graham of all people, who is frequently at the WH and with Trump, should be leading Trump to be a Christian, NOT telling other Christians that Trump did nothing wrong when he committed blasphemy,” the former congresswoman replied.
