NC evangelist Franklin Graham defends Trump’s Jesus, pope social media posts
North Carolina evangelist Franklin Graham took to social media Thursday to express solidarity with President Donald Trump amid widespread backlash over recent posts by the president.
Trump shared an AI-generated image to his Truth Social platform late Sunday that depicted him as a Jesus-like figure in robes with light emitting from him as he laid hands on a man in a hospital bed.
The post was deleted after a wave of criticism Monday, including from some in Trump’s base. The president told reporters he shared the post because he “thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with Red Cross.”
Graham, president of the Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and leader of the Boone-based Samaritan’s Purse, is a longtime ally of the president. He spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention and told the Conservative Political Action Conference last month “God has raised (Trump) up for a time such as this.”
Graham wrote on social media Thursday he believes Trump’s explanation for the post and that the president’s “enemies are always foaming at the mouth at any possible opportunity to make him look bad.”
“I do not believe President Trump would knowingly depict himself as Jesus Christ — that would certainly be inappropriate …” he said. “When I looked at the illustration, I didn’t jump to the same conclusion as some. There were no spiritual references — no halo, there were no crosses, no angels. It was a flag, soldiers, a nurse, fighter planes, eagles, the Statue of Liberty, and I think this is a lot to do about nothing. There is so much ill-intended speculation.”
Graham also alluded to Trump’s recent criticism of Pope Leo XIV, the first American leader of the Catholic Church who has called for peace during the administration’s war in Iran.
“He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump wrote on Truth Social late Sunday, adding accusations that the pope is “catering to the radical left” and that he should “focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician.”
The pope said in response he wasn’t afraid of the Trump administration.
In his Thursday post, Graham said he believes Trump to be “the most pro-Christian, pro-life president in my lifetime.”
“I would hope that the President and Pope Leo can meet at some point, and that the Pope would have the opportunity to thank the President for his efforts to protect religious liberty for Catholics and people of all faiths,” Graham said.
This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 3:55 PM with the headline "NC evangelist Franklin Graham defends Trump’s Jesus, pope social media posts."
