House Speaker Mike Johnson says Trump didn’t think ‘doctor’ post was ‘sacrilegious at all’

House Speaker Mike Johnson says he spoke with President Donald Trump about his now-deleted social media post in which he compared himself to a Christ-like healing figure.

The Sunday evening Truth Social post depicted Trump, wearing a white robe covered by a red shawl, touching his right hand to the forehead of another man lying in a bed wearing a hospital gown. Surrounding Trump and the bedridden man were several Americans in various roles: a nurse, and a woman praying.

The image background included an American flag, the Statue of Liberty and other classic American iconography along with several figures in the clouds above him, including a winged, three-horned figure descending from the heavens.

By noon Monday, the post was deleted from Truth Social.

When asked by a reporter Tuesday on Capitol Hill about whether the president’s post constituted blasphemy, Johnson said, “I talked with 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. He agreed and he pulled it down.”

Johnson, a former professor, lawyer and former trustee for the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said the president agreed with his assessment and “pulled [the post] down.” The House speaker added that doing so was the “right thing to do” and that he doesn’t believe Trump intended to disrespect the Lord Jesus or Christians in general.

“He explained how he saw that, and I don’t think he thought it was sacrilegious at all,” he said.

At a White House media briefing Monday, Trump revealed that he posted the image himself because he “thought it was me as a doctor.”

“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with the Red Cross,” the president said. “There was a Red Cross worker there, which we support.”

The image shared on social media did include a nurse, but there was no indication of a Red Cross worker in the image. 

Trump blamed “the fake news” for alleging the image compared him to Jesus. “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better, and I do make people better,” he said. “I make people a lot better.”

The post drew condemnation on social media from a number of former Trump supporters, including former Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green, who wrote: “It’s more than blasphemy. It’s an Antichrist spirit.”

Christ Church Pastor Douglas Wilson said he was “very grateful” for Christians who pushed back on the post. “I was very grateful to see how many conservative Christians immediately denounced the blasphemous Jesus/Trump image,” Wilson wrote. “I was also grateful to see how many center/left Christians suddenly agreed that public blasphemy is a thing we should all be concerned about. A bit late, but still good.”

Conservative influencer Riley Gaines wrote: “Seriously, I cannot understand why he’d post this. Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this? Either way, two things are true. 1) a little humility would serve him well 2) God shall not be mocked.”

The controversial post comes just days after Paula White-Cain, who serves as the senior advisor to the White House Faith Office, compared Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign — including surviving two failed assassination attempts — with the persecution of Jesus leading to His crucifixion.

In remarks she gave during a private Easter lunch at the White House with other Christian leaders, White-Cain claimed God told her to tell Trump how thankful she is for him, according to footage of the ceremony that was uploaded by the White House to YouTube before being taken down.