Cardinal Who Helped Elect Pope Criticises Trumps Jesus Depiction

A British cardinal who helped to elect Pope Leo XIV has hit out at Donald Trump for depicting himself as Jesus Christ.

The US president posted an AI-generated image of himself on his Truth Social account which appeared to show him healing a sick man by laying his hand upon him.

He has since deleted the image following an furious backlash, and bizarrely claimed he had thought it showed him as a doctor.

Confusingly, vice-president JD Vance has since insisted Trump’s post was just a “joke”.

The row came after the president launched an outspoken attack on the Pope, who he accused of being “weak on crime”.

On the BBC’s Newsnight programme on Monday, Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, who was part of the conclave which elected Pope Leo last year, said the image Trump posted was “frankly bizarre”.

He said: “People have said they think it is blasphemous. I think that implies an attack on Christianity, which President Trump I don’t think intended.

“But it does show a complete misunderstanding of what Christianity is about.

“That anybody could think that they have the right to claim to be Jesus now in that way, to take his place, is quite frankly absurd.”

Asked whether he believed Trump’s claim that he thought the image was depicting him as a doctor healing people, Cardinal Radcliffe said: “I find it very strange. I’ve met many doctors in my life and none of them have glowed quite like that.”

The cardinal also rejected Trump’s claim that Pope Leo was only chosen because he is American and could therefore deal more easily with him.

He said: “It’s an extraordinary statement. The cardinals voted for Pope Leo because they saw in him a good, gentle man who will really seek peace and justice. The fact that he was an American was not important.”

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