Monday, April 13, 2026

NO, THAT TRUMP-AS-JESUS POST ISN'T CAUSING THE BASE TO TURN ON HIM

Last night, President Trump wrote a Truth Social screed denouncing Pope Leo, who has now joined the many others living rent-free in Trump's head because he's criticized the war in Iran and has chosen to spend this Fourth of July greeting immigrants on an Italian island after turning down an invitation to attend Trump's own vainglorious Independence Day festivities, while also spreading word that he might avoid the United States altogether while Trump is president.

The New York Times summarizes Trump's post:
“Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise,” Mr. Trump wrote in a lengthy social media post on Sunday night. “He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”

When he sent the post, the president was fresh off a weekend of attending a mixed martial arts fight in Miami and spending time with supporters at his golf club after negotiations with Iran had failed. He criticized Leo as “weak on crime” — an insult he usually reserves for Democratic mayors — and “terrible for foreign policy.” He said that he much preferred the pope’s brother Louis because of his support for the MAGA movement — “He gets it!” Mr. Trump wrote. The president also accused the pope of “catering to the radical left” and then offered a piece of advice, to “focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician.”
This story has left much of the liberal social media community angry at the Times, for some reason.

Pro-Trump media bias: frame world events as a reality show with Trump as protagonist. As @larryglickman.bsky.social explains, it’s absurd to cast the Pope saying war is bad as a “punch” Trump is responding to. But also, he didn’t take any action. He just said words nonsensically insulting the Pope.

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— Nicholas Grossman (@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 8:08 AM

It's not a counterpunch, guys. The pope didn't throw a punch. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/12/u...

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— Will Saletan (@saletan.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 7:52 AM

No, "counterpunch" is fine. As I noted above, Leo threw a punch. In fact, he threw several punches. And good for him. It's clear from Trump's howls of pain that the punches landed.

Trump followed that Truth Social post with a bit of blasphemy.

The Washington Post claims that this post is getting Trump in trouble with his Christian allies:
... the image evoking Jesus drew swift criticism from some evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics who have otherwise expressed near constant support for Trump’s decisions.
So he's losing right-wing Evangelicals and Catholics? Nahhh. He's losing right-wing Christian commentators, just the way he lost some right-wing commentators (Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones) by going into Iran.

So, sure, some prominent commentators with seven-figure X followings are angry at Trump:
Michael Knowles, [a] conservative Catholic podcaster aligned with Trump, said online it “behooves the President both spiritually and politically to delete the picture, no matter the intent.”

Riley Gaines, a conservative podcaster, former collegiate swimmer and prominent critic of transgender participation in women’s sports who spoke at Trump rallies and was recently a guest at the White House, also criticized the post. “I cannot understand why he’d post this. Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this? Either way, two things are true,” Gaines wrote on X, continuing to say that “a little humility would serve him well” and “God shall not be mocked” — a reference to scripture.
But what were the responses to these tweets? Most look like these responses to Knowles:



And in response to Gaines:


There are replies that are critical of Trump, but it's all but certain that the vast majority of Trump supporters will just mentally rewrite their standards about what's acceptable to include this image. They'll shrug this off the way they shrug off everything else Trump does that violates their beliefs.
Posted by Steve M. at 11:43 AM

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