‘A True Sociopath’: Trump Faces Fresh Backlash After Embarrassing Viral Photo Comes Back to Bite Him, and One Detail About the Timing Sets People Off
An old embarrassing photo of President Donald Trump is coming back to haunt him at the worst possible time, throwing fuel on the backlash that erupted against him over a meme he posted of himself as Jesus helping a sick man.
Trump ignited a controversy Sunday night as his feud with Pope Leo over his war on Iran escalated. After several days of back-and-forth between the pope and Trump, the president posted what his Christian conservative base is calling a “blasphemous” image.
It showed an AI-generated meme of Trump dressed in biblical robes, looking strikingly like Jesus Christ with a light shining out of one hand and ministering to a sick man with the other, surrounded by followers against a patriotic backdrop of American flags, the Statue of Liberty, bald eagles, and angels.
Christians, even his MAGA base, were so angry and outraged at the comparison that Trump caved, taking down the post by the next morning, April 13, but by then the damage had already been done.
Trump flailed around for an explanation on Monday as he was grilled by reporters over it.
He even suggested he was ignorant of the obvious meaning of the meme.
“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross … which we support, and only the fake news could come up with that one,” the president duplicitously insisted, trying to blame the media for what conservative critics are calling “blasphemy.”
In fact, the uproar is still raging with angry supporters lashing out at him on his Truth Social platform, sending White House staffers into emergency management mode, according to news reports.
Amid this backdrop, another awkward photo went viral again.
In early November last year, Trump was hosting an event at the White House with pharmaceutical executives to tout his lowering of prices on popular drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, when the unthinkable happened. A drug company representative suddenly collapsed.
As his guests jumped up and scurried to help the man, a patient invited to the White House by Eli Lilly because he had experience using a GLP-1 drug, Trump stood frozen behind the Resolute Desk where a photographer captured an image of an unhappy-looking Trump as at least four people worked to help the Eli Lilly guest who was lying on the floor with his legs raised.
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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz was among those rushing to offer assistance.
That image went viral at the time and is having another moment in the sun as social media users try to reconcile that image of Trump standing idly by as a man is clearly in need of help with the astonishing image the president posted of himself as Jesus rendering aid to an ill man.
Threads users suggested that Trump’s real trouble with the man collapsing that day in the Oval Office, pointing to the expression on his face as evidence, is that it suddenly hijacked Trump’s big event on drug prices and put the spotlight on someone else.
“Not a shred of empathy in the man. He’s not only disinterested, he’s actually *annoyed* that someone’s medical emergency distracted the room from him,” a Threads user stated.
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Poster Doug Milliken agreed, “No one’s paying attention to him, and he just shuts down and sulks.”
Another quipped, “He’s using the power of his mind! Which is why he was of no help at all!”
The good news in all of it was that the man was just fine.
A statement from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at the time said the White House administered medical care and the guest recovered.