Vice President JD Vance defended President Donald Trump on Monday after a weekend of escalating conflict between the president and Pope Leo XIV culminated in Trump posting an AI-generated image depicting himself as a Jesus-like figure Sunday night. The controversy matters now because it has fractured Trump’s own coalition—drawing rebukes from prominent conservatives and MAGA allies—at a moment when the administration is already navigating backlash over the Iran war.
For American Catholics in particular, the feud between a sitting president and the first American-born pope represents an unprecedented collision of faith and politics.
Vance Calls It a Joke
Appearing on Fox News’ Special Report with host Bret Baier on Monday, Vance—who converted to Catholicism in 2019—was pressed directly on the AI image, which showed Trump in a Christ-like pose healing a sick man, surrounded by American flags and bald eagles. Trump posted it to Truth Social on Sunday night, hours after calling Pope Leo “weak on crime, and terrible for foreign policy.”
“I think the president was posting a joke,” Vance told Baier. “He took it down because he recognized that a lot of people weren’t understanding his humor in that case.” Trump offered a different explanation to reporters, saying he thought the image depicted himself as a doctor or Red Cross worker. “Only the fake news could come up with that one,” Trump said.
The image was deleted, but the damage was already spreading—not from the left, but from within conservative ranks.
MAGA Breaks With Trump Over ‘Blasphemy’
The backlash from Trump’s own base was swift and striking. Conservative pundit Carmine Sabia called the post “reprehensible,” writing: “I will forever support my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ before any man or woman. I cannot imagine the narcissism it takes to post that.” Megan Basham of The Daily Wire called it “outrageous blasphemy” and demanded an immediate apology. Former Republican U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has increasingly distanced herself from Trump over the Iran war and the Epstein files, went further: “It’s more than blasphemy. It’s an Antichrist spirit.”
Even younger MAGA supporters recoiled. Brilyn Hollyhand, a 19-year-old MAGA influencer with nearly 232,000 followers on X, wrote: “Faith is not a prop. You don’t need to portray yourself as a savior when your record should speak for itself.” Candace Owens, who broke with Trump earlier this year over the Iran war, added a pointed warning: “This will be consequential for JD Vance.”
The Feud With Leo Has Been Building
The AI image was the latest flashpoint in a weekslong deterioration of relations between the Trump administration and the Vatican. Since Trump launched the Iran war in late February, Pope Leo has been openly critical—of the conflict, U.S. immigration enforcement and Trump’s assertion that God supports the war.
On Sunday, Trump escalated dramatically, posting to Truth Social: “I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do.” He also claimed Leo owed his papacy to American influence, writing: “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
Leo did not back down. Speaking to reporters aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria on Monday, he told reporters: “I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do.”
Vance’s Careful Line
For his part, Vance avoided directly endorsing Trump’s characterization of Leo while declining to push back on it. “The president has the prerogative to set American foreign policy,” he told Baier. “When the Vatican comments on issues of public policy, sometimes there’s gonna be agreement, and sometimes there’s gonna be disagreement.”
He later called the dispute “not particularly newsworthy.”
Newsweek's reporters and editors used Martyn, our Al assistant, to help produce this story. Learn more about Martyn.