House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has been criticized online for attempting to excuse President Donald Trump after he posted an AI-generated image depicting himself as a Christ-like figure — and experts in political science weighed in on what Johnson’s refusal to condemn the post says about Trump.
The president was widely ripped across the political spectrum for posting the image on his Truth Social platform on Sunday — the same day he attacked Pope Leo XIV, calling him “WEAK on Crime” in another post. The image depicted the president wearing a white robe, with light emanating from one hand and apparently healing a sick man with the other.
The post was denounced by religious leaders and prominent Democrats and Republicans — including some of his most outspoken supporters. The president later deleted it, telling reporters the following day that he thought the image depicted him as a doctor, not as Jesus.
Despite the backlash, Johnson didn’t denounce the image when CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi asked him about it on Tuesday.
“Was it blasphemy?” Stracqualursi asked.
“I talked to the president about it as soon as I saw it, and told him that I don’t think it was being received in the same way he intended it,” Johnson responded, adding that Trump agreed with him and removed the post, and that it “was the right thing to do.”
“I don’t think he thought it was sacrilegious at all,” he continued. “I think he showed great respect to others by removing it.”
Trump, though, apparently isn’t quite done — he posted a screenshot of another post on Wednesday that featured an image of Jesus embracing him.
“The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!!” he wrote alongside it.
On Wednesday, when Johnson was asked about the president’s attacks on the pope, he told reporters: “I’m not one to criticize clerics and religious leaders … a pontiff or religious leader can say anything they want, but obviously if you wade into political waters, you should expect some political response and I think the pope has received some of that.”
None of what Johnson is doing (or not doing) is a shock to the experts we spoke to.
Heather Diehl via Getty Images
“The Speaker’s response was not surprising in that it appears he doesn’t want to sow discontent within the party or between him and President Trump specifically,” said Conor M. Dowling, professor of political science at the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences. “Given that the Speaker would like the President to support legislation passed through Congress, it stands to reason that the Speaker would want to maintain a working relationship with the President.”
However, Dowling emphasized that this leaves Johnson open to public criticism.
“In this specific instance, not outrightly condemning the AI image risks criticism not only from Democrats for, among other things, hypocrisy, but also from some Republicans who might have viewed the post as sacrilegious or, at the very least, unnecessary and untoward,” he told HuffPost.
Todd Belt, professor and political management program director at the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University, emphasized that “Johnson hasn’t broken with the president over anything, yet.”
“He knows he and his members are still tied to Trump’s voters,” he told HuffPost. “As long as that is the case, he’s [sticking] with the president. He’s seen what happens to people who cross President Trump.”
“Condemning Trump puts a target on you,” he later said. “The Pope and the Italian Prime Minister can attest to that.”
Belt said that it would be “too much trouble” for Johnson to condemn Trump over “anything.”
“If he did, he’d lose the support of voters and members of his party in Congress,” he said.
Belt also pointed out that the criticism against Johnson’s reluctance to denounce Trump’s Christ-like AI post likely has to do with the point that Johnson “wears his faith on his sleeve.”
“He makes much of being a pious man, and if someone holds their beliefs so closely, you would expect them to be offended and to speak out,” he said. “It shows you how powerful Trump is that he can cause religious men to be silent in the face of heresy.”
