The Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the late Rev. Billy Graham and a leading evangelical figure close to Donald Trump’s administration, does not believe the president “intentionally” portrayed himself as a Christ-like figure in a now-deleted artificial intelligence-generated image.
Trump posted on his Truth Social account on Sunday that he was wearing a white robe and a red sash, placing a glowing outstretched hand on the forehead of a man in a hospital bed. The president later said it showed “I’m a doctor.”
In a statement shared with independentGraham denounced what he called “bad faith speculation” about the president’s image, in contrast to a backlash from other faith leaders, including conservative evangelicals, who have accused him of grotesque blasphemy and mocking sacred symbols in order to serve a political agenda.
“When I saw the illustrations, I didn’t come to the same conclusion that some people did,” Graham said.
“There are no spiritual references – no halos, no crosses, no angels,” he added. “I think it’s much ado about nothing. There’s too much malicious speculation. I think his enemies are always trying to embarrass him at any possible opportunity.”
Rev. Franklin Graham criticized “vicious speculation” about Trump’s posts and said the president’s “enemies always seize any possible opportunity to embarrass him” (Reuters)
Graham said he didn’t believe Trump “would intentionally portray himself as Jesus Christ — that would certainly be inappropriate.”
Graham added: “I appreciate the president making it clear that this is not at all what he thought the AI-generated image represented – he thought it was a doctor helping someone, and when he learned of these concerns he immediately deleted the post.”
Graham, a prominent evangelical preacher and president of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, has been aligned with the president in both administrations.
He recently appeared at the White House to celebrate Easter with other Christian pastors, including one of Trump’s longtime religious advisers, Robert Jeffries, who leads First Baptist Church in Dallas.
On Palm Sunday, Trump shared a letter from Graham on his social media platforms that responded to the president’s statement that he thought he was going to hell. “I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to get me to heaven, okay?” Trump speculated about Air Force One last year.
“Maybe you are joking, but making sure your soul is safe and will spend eternity in the presence of God is an important issue,” Graham wrote in response.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas last month, Graham said he “loves Donald Trump” and “we will never have another president like him.”
“That’s why we must do everything we can to get him re-elected,” he said.
Graham issued a statement immediately after speaking, saying he “misspoke.”
Graham, a long-time Trump ally, said he was “grateful” to the president for claiming the photo showed him as a “doctor” (AFP/Getty)
His latest comments come after a wave of bipartisan outrage from conservative Christian commentators and pastors who are otherwise aligned with the president’s agenda.
But so far, evangelicals close to the president have either refused to speak out publicly or opened the door to Trump viewing the incident as a teachable moment.
The fragile alliance between conservative Catholics and evangelicals is increasingly being tested by the president’s growing hostility toward Pope Leo XIV and Catholic leadership and the administration’s portrayal of the war with Iran as a Christian mission.
“I am not a Catholic, I am an evangelical, but I appreciate how President Trump defends religious freedom for people of all faiths, including millions of evangelicals and Catholics in the United States and around the world,” Graham said in the statement.
“He’s the most pro-Christian, pro-life president in my lifetime, and he doesn’t shy away from that,” he added. “I hope that the president and Pope Leo will be able to meet at some point and that the pope will have an opportunity to thank the president for his efforts to protect religious freedom.”
