Vance Reacts to Trump's 'Blasphemy' Post

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Vice President J. D. Vance is now responding after President Trump posted and then deleted a controversial AI generated image of himself seemingly portrayed as Jesus. Here's what Vance had to say.

[00:00:12]>> I think the president was posting a joke and of course he took it down because he recognized that a lot of people weren't understanding uh his his humor in that case. I think the president of the United States likes to mix it up on social media. And I actually think that's one of the good things about this president is that he's not filtered. He doesn't send everything through a communications professional. He actually reaches out directly to the people.

[00:00:33]>> Joining us now to discuss is CBN's Billy Hallowell. Now, Billy, it seems like the ship has really already sailed on this.

[00:00:40]Christians of all political stripes, including those who are typically in the president's corner, have come out condemning this post. And while Vance is calling it a joke, Trump has said he didn't realize the image was depicting him in a savior-like manner. So, what do you make of all of this from Trump to now the vice president?

[00:00:58]>> Yeah, you know, it's interesting when you look at this because social media, it incentivizes us to do all sorts of things that can create distractions and drama and problems. And I think when you're the president, whether his intentions were to post an image of him looking like Jesus or not, that's how it was interpreted. I do find it fascinating that he removed it. You know, Trump's not one to back down from a lot of things. So, the fact that it was removed is very interesting. The fact as you were saying that a lot of people who typically agree with him have spoken out against this I think is actually an important moment for evangelicals in particular because the critique has been that people won't speak up against the president when he does something. And here you have a very clear example of a lot of people speaking up and saying hey I support his policies. I've supported him but I really don't like what happened here with this imagery. Right? So I think that's actually really healthy and important that we're seeing so many people do that. I think Vance's response is interesting. He's trying to temper the storm on this. And look, I think we have to be careful. It is very possible that Trump thought this was the image of a doctor healing people. I mean, that he didn't see it as Jesus. And people may not believe that, but I don't know what was in his heart. I do think he should be, you know, more careful maybe about what he is posting because this is an unnecessary distraction unless it's an intentional distraction. You just never know, >> right? that that's the difficult thing when you're dealing with a president like Donald Trump because he's tech-savvy. He is social media savvy. He knows what plays well and what doesn't generally speaking. That doesn't mean that he doesn't step in it sometimes, right? It seems like he certainly has has riled up people even as both of us have said in his own base. But I do like the point that you're making about okay this is a moment where all people Christians those who are conservative and otherwise can say look I disagree with this because really Raj and I did a video on this the other day and one of the points that we were making is this really should be an apolitical conversation right this is not even really that inherently political whether you're Barack Obama Donald Trump Harris whoever it is if you're making a point or or sharing a post that is in any way disparaging the savior of the world disparaging Jesus intentionally or otherwise. I think it's the onus is on Christians to say something about it because it's important that we distance ourselves from that stuff. That's not condemning everything that the Trump administration has done. It's in isolation saying that was a bridge too far and you shouldn't have posted that.

[00:03:24]And more than anything, I hope that it opens the door for continued conversations about the gospel with this president. I know Franklin Graham, we've covered, has shared the gospel with uh Donald Trump and others have done so as well. And I hope that this is just one more opportunity to have a downto- earthth level with the president conversation about the gospel because unfortunately it seems at this point, intentionally or not, that post indicates that he doesn't truly know the gospel. He doesn't truly have a relationship with the Lord. And hopefully this opens the doors for more conversations about the gospel with the president.

[00:04:01]>> And also just, you know, wh why are we posting images like this in general? I mean, there's a lot of other things to be doing. And this is not it's not a political thing. I just think the reality is it becomes a distraction that takes away. Now, again, if that's intentional, that's interesting. I don't know if it is or not. Uh but I do think the vice president is doing his job, which is to step in and try to temper the storm. And I look, in fairness, and this is the last thing I'll say, one of the things that people do like about Trump is that he does he he does sort of post things that are flippant or say things that are flippant, and it's sort of made him the everyman for people.

[00:04:34]It's why he's resonated so much with so many. Uh so it'll be interesting to see what the next controversy is, but uh hopefully we're at the tail end of this one.

[00:04:43]>> Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And the last thing I'll say too on uh on the front with with JD is he kind of has a thankless job as the vice vice president. Uh he he kind of has to play both. You know, he wants to to share his opinion, to share his thoughts, but also he's the vice president to Donald Trump. So he's constantly going to be having to step in and defend some of the unorthodox things, I guess I'll say, that President Trump is is prone to do. So either way, again, I think ultimately this is an opportunity for Christians to stand up, share the gospel with their friends and their family members, and pray that the president too will be exposed to the gospel.