Washington (AFP) — United States President Donald Trump on Monday deleted a social media image apparently depicting him as Jesus after an outcry from religious leaders that he was being blasphemous.

The image posted on Trump’s Truth Social platform showed him in flowing red and white robes, touching the forehead of what appeared to be a sick man and with light shining from his hand and head.

An American flag waved in the background while various figures gazed up at the president in reverence.

The AI picture was posted late Sunday and removed Monday.

Asked about the post, Trump denied that he was trying to look like Jesus Christ.

“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do Red Cross,” he told journalists. “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better.”

The post generated an outcry from a series of prominent conservative Christians who are among Trump’s biggest backers.

“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,” Megan Basham, a conservative journalist and commentator wrote on X.

“He needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.”

Trump has previously used religious images in his posts. During his 2023 bank fraud trial, he shared a sketch from a supporter that showed him sitting next to Jesus in the courtroom.

His advisors have also repeatedly cast him in a Jesus-like role.

During an Easter lunch event at the White House earlier this month, Paula White-Cain, a televangelist who has served as his spiritual advisor, likened Trump to Jesus. “You were betrayed and arrested and falsely accused. It’s a familiar pattern that our Lord and Savior showed us.”

Trump has more avidly embraced his perceived messianic role after the July 2024 assassination attempt, said Matthew Taylor, a visiting scholar at the Center on Faith and Justice at Georgetown University who studies Christian nationalism.

“Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason, and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness,” Trump told supporters in his victory speech after his 2024 election win.

The Jesus image post could further fracture Trump’s base at a time when they are questioning the Middle East war, particularly Catholics offended by his public spat with Pope Leo, who has criticized the US bombing of Iran, Taylor told AFP.