Trump’s Jesus-like image was ‘preposterous’, says Badenoch

The image of Donald Trump as a Christ-like figure was “preposterous”, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said.

She said it was “bizarre” that the US president had posted the image online and it was not a surprise he subsequently deleted it.

Mr Trump claimed the picture was supposed to portray him as a doctor, rather than Jesus.

Mrs Badenoch told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I thought it was a preposterous picture.

“It should have been, at best, a funny joke that somebody else had done.

“It was very bizarre seeing the president tweet it himself.

“I’m not surprised that it’s been deleted.”

She said the relationship with the US went beyond Mr Trump and backed the King making a state visit later this month.

She said: “We’ve got to put Donald Trump to one side and actually look at the state of the world and the situation that we’re in.

“If he’s saying something that makes sense, we should agree.

“If he says something that doesn’t make sense, we should disagree.

“I think he’s right to say we need to do more spending on defence.

“He’s right to say that we should look at our own energy sources.

“He’s wrong to make childish remarks… these empty threats on Greenland and so on, all of that’s wrong.

“What he said about Iran, that’s wrong as well.

“We need to be in a position where we can say yes if someone is right and no if they’re wrong, rather than just following them irrespective or never wanting to hear from them because of political ideology.”

The now-deleted image, on the US president’s Truth Social account, showed Mr Trump in a white robe with a glowing outstretched hand on the forehead of a man lying in a bed.

It was later taken down from the platform and Mr Trump claimed that he never intended to liken himself to the son of God.

Asked about it, he said: “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better.

“And I do make people better.

“I make people a lot better.”

It came after Mr Trump branded US-born Pope Leo XIV “weak” after the pontiff spoke out against war.

Speaking about the post, Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe told BBC Newsnight: “I thought it was just quite frankly bizarre.

“People have often said that they think that it’s blasphemous.

“I think that implies an attack on Christianity, which President Trump I don’t think intended, but it does show a complete misunderstanding of what Christianity is about.”

Asked about Mr Trump saying the image depicted him as a doctor, Cardinal Radcliffe added: “I find it very strange.

“I’ve met many doctors in my life and none of them have glowed quite like that.”