Dr. Jesus: MAGAReport 4/15/26

Trump keeps alienating the MAGA core, this time by depicting himself as God

Note before we jump in - I will be on The Situation Room on CNN tomorrow around 11:40 ET to talk about the far-right, online antisemitism, and social media.

Amid Trump’s ongoing attacks against the Pope, Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus on Truth Social:

This, not surprisingly, upset a lot of Christians, including a lot of high-profile MAGA personalities. Eventually, Trump deleted the post without apologizing, claiming that he thought it depicted him as “a doctor”.

The response to this post on the MAGA forums has been wild, and I think it is a great look in at the way MAGA loyalists respond to Trump’s most wild missteps. There are four main takes here: Trump actually is Jesus, Trump was never trying to say he was Jesus, Trump was trying to say he was Jesus, but it’s just a meme so no one should be upset, and Trump really screwed up by likening himself to Jesus. The latter is the most popular response, but let’s take a look at all three.

Some of them remain fully loyal, arguing that Trump is sort of a God:

We need to take Trump seriously. It’s not crazy to think that after all he has accomplished he is definitely closer to a God than a human that he might be the new Jesus Christ

That post inspired debate:

• After much deliberation, the panel have decided that, yes, it is in fact a crazy thing to think.

• You can’t be serious. Just here to troll?

  • Tell me what proof we have he hasn’t Jesus. Trump said multiple times he is the only one who could save the world. That sounds a lot like Jesus

  • why not? if you are a christian, you believe in the second coming. why can’t it be Trump?

• Are you retarded? This picture is blasphemous af

  • Ok commie.

Some pretend that this post was never supposed to depict Trump as Jesus. One person posted “Retards are trying to say this is Trump as Jesus” with the image above. The commenters, basically, said “well yeah, because it is”.

• Ummmm… Definitley Jesus imagery, cross or no cross.

• OP see an optometrist. You can bicker over whether it’s offensive, blasphemous, or whatever, but you can’t argue that is just Trump dressed up as some random “healer”.

• Sure depicts him as being the saviour! 🤷‍♂️

  • Where’s the cross? Any cross for that matter? It’s not even religious. All I see are patriotic symbols, AND a man who’s purpose is to save the U.S., not mankind.

    • Are you serious? You think all Jesus imagery depicts a cross? Or all christian imagery depicts a cross? 🤣🤦🏻‍♂️

      • Like I said, show me the cross. All I see are patriotic symbols. You ever see a fighter jet in a religious image or icon? What about the Statue of Liberty? You see that in any religious renderings? Anyone who has an ounce of common sense realizes this isn’t Trump as Jesus. It’s Trump as the SAVIOR of the UNITED STATES. Period.

Another person in this camp tried to argue this was actually depicting Trump as “The Magician” from a tarot deck:

There are lots of comments that essentially say “It’s a meme. CALM DOWN!” These represent the nihilistic core of MAGA and they are the main body of comments in opposition to the final, most popular group, which recognizes Trump’s post as a mistake:

• he’s really trying to alienate all of his bases, isn’t he? weird strategy.

  • he could have just owned the mistake and apologized. the ‘red cross doctor’ excuse is insulting.

    • Exactly. How is it that everyone can just repat that stupid answer without thinking for themselves. My mind is blown how many on theDonald are full blown redditards.

  • None of ‘his bases’ has ever been the compulsively offended menstruating faggots.

Over in Proud Boys corner, it is no surprise that they called Trump out for this. Unlike the forums of MAGA loyalists, they do not see Trump as infallible and they let him know when they disapprove. From the Cape Fear Proud Boys on Telegram:

Donnie, you’re not Jesus.

It’s difficult to articulate what a poorly thought out political/optics decision this was. It’s an L across the board. The Christian right hates it, both Evangelicals and Trad-Catholics. The Fox News boomers hate it, the zoomer right thinks you suck at making memes and the noticers have noticed what religion you wouldn’t dare make fun of. On the left, the mainline rainbow Protestants with their female pastors hate it, so do the modern Papist Vatican worshiping open-border Catholics. You also handed the secular left more ammunition for the case they are making in convincing the national electorate that you’re a clown. This is a case they are winning by the way. Who was this post intended for? How does this move the needle anywhere but down? We can’t afford self-inflicted wounds like this. What happened to you? Where is the guy we voted for in 2016?

Please stop being retarded.

One of Trump’s big appeals starting back in 2016 was his political incorrectness, brazenness, and his trolling of the left. Up through the present, that escalated into weaponization of the state, including threats of, and actual use of, government violence against Trump’s enemies. I have written extensively in previous MAGAReports about the appetite for this among hard core MAGA supporters. But Trump seems to be repeatedly overstepping what even his core supporters have an appetite for. The violence in Minnesota; the military actions in Venezuela and Iran and, he promises, in Cuba; his close alliance with Israel; his insults directed at the Pope - these are largely beyond what MAGA wanted to see from him this term.

Trump is probing the boundaries of what MAGA will accept, and he seems to be doing so without a clear goal or reason. I think the Proud Boys’ post captured the confusion in the base most accurately. “Who was this post intended for? How does this move the needle anywhere but down?” My take is that we are, increasingly, seeing Trump’s psychology and his own nihilism laid bare, and that he himself is unaware of what his supporters will think is funny or powerful and what will appall them.