Evangelist on Trump's AI Image: 'Lot to Do About Nothing'

Franklin Graham says the latest Trump controversy is more smoke than fire. The influential evangelist and Trump ally argued on Thursday that the president didn't intentionally liken himself to Jesus in an AI-generated image he shared—and then deleted—on Truth Social, pushing back on critics who labeled the post blasphemous. Graham wrote on X that he saw no religious symbols in the image and called the uproar "a lot to do about nothing," blaming political opponents for fanning it, per Politico. Trump has said he thought the image showed him as a doctor "making people better."

It's the second time in recent months Trump has pulled a Truth Social post after intraparty backlash: In February, he removed a racist video of the Obamas. Graham said it would be "inappropriate" for Trump to depict himself as Christ, but the evangelist accepted Trump's explanation and praised a separate manufactured image that Trump shared of Jesus embracing him. Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene rejected Graham's defense, accusing him on X of "making excuses" and insisting Trump "knows what he is doing." Graham also refused to criticize Trump after the latter put up a post on Easter ridiculing Islam, per the Charlotte Observer.