Although it was widely reported at the time that Donald Trump did not place his hand on the Bible when he took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2025, that news was quickly eclipsed by other headlines he created that week. But it is getting a second look after Trump’s recent attack on Pope Leo and his portrayal of himself as Jesus Christ on social media.
Trump created controversy over the Bible before. While campaigning in 2024, he peddled “God Bless the USA” Bibles — which were printed in China — that included some of America’s founding documents along with the King James version of the Bible.
The AP reported that the Bibles retailed for $59.99 but cost less than $3 per unit to print. For $1,000 you could get an edition signed by the then-former president.
At the time, Baptist minister and Bible reviewer Tim Wildsmith said, “I was shocked by how poor the quality of it was. It says to me that it’s more about the love of money than it is the love of our country.”
After Trump posted the meme that depicted him as Jesus — on Orthodox Easter Sunday — he tried to wriggle out of the jam he created by saying that he was portraying himself as a physician. It was another ludicrous claim, and Trump’s harshest criticism came quickly from his own crowd.
Conservative commentator Carmine Sabia said, “As a Christian, I’m offended by this, and I don’t know how any Christian would not be offended by this. There is only one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Mocking Him is not OK.”
Fox News reported that RedState.com contributor Bonchie called Trump’s Jesus meme “blasphemy,” adding, “Trump needs to delete that meme and apologize. It’s that simple.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who famously fell out with Trump and has been on a repentance tour speaking out against him, posted on social media, “It’s more than blasphemy. It’s an Antichrist spirit.”
When Trump took on the pope on matters of faith and theology, Roman Catholics and followers of other religions in America and around the world united in the pope’s defense. Praying for peace is hardly being “weak on crime,” as Trump said of the pope.
As usual, Trump doubled down in response to the rebukes, enlisting JD Vance to explain their totally wrong-headed version of St. Augustine’s “just war” theory to an Augustinian pope. That opened them up to more ridicule.
Trump has usually been better at reading the room than he has been lately. His recent behavior has been bad enough to feed speculation that something else is going on with him. The irony of that is not lost considering his constant claims that President Joe Biden has suffered from age-related cognitive issues.
As Peter Baker wrote in The New York Times this week, “A series of disjointed, hard-to-follow and sometimes-profane statements capped by his ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’ threat to wipe Iran off the map last week and his head-spinning attack on the ‘WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy’ pope on Sunday night have left many with the impression of a deranged autocrat mad with power.”
Retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said that Trump should apologize to the pope, a suggestion from many Republicans that Trump has rejected. But Tillis stayed away from any discussion of Trump’s cognitive decline and focused on the political consequences of Trump’s behavior.
“It’s never really a good look for politicians to cross swords with popes,” Tillis said. “Very seldom does that end well.”