Religious Conservatives and U.S. Politics

President Trump confirmed in a recent CBS News interview that he personally posted — and later deleted — an AI-generated image that depicted him in a Christ-like pose, a post that drew immediate outrage from the Christian right and broader evangelical leaders. Speaking to CBS (in a segment that also addressed his public spat with Pope Leo XIV), Trump defended the image as "supposed to be me as a doctor making people better" and suggested it related to the Red Cross, insisting on that explanation even after widespread condemnation and offering no apology for the religious symbolism. Monsignor Anthony Figueiredo appeared on the CBS segment to provide on-air reaction as the controversy became entwined with Trump's ongoing clash with the Vatican and the pope.