President Trump's own voters overwhelmingly rejected his social media post depicting himself as Jesus — a rare break in today's tribal politics, a new poll finds. The Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos survey, released Wednesday, shows 80% of 2024 Trump voters and 79% of Republicans reacted negatively to the image.
Overall, 87% of Americans had a negative reaction to the post, which showed Trump in white and red robes with one hand resting on a sick man's forehead. The image was swiftly labeled "blasphemy" online and deleted from the president's account the next morning. Trump later told reporters he thought the image was fine.
The backlash underscores limits to how far culture-war politics can stretch inside his own coalition, even as the president makes religious appeals a centerpiece of his outreach. The poll also found 69% of Americans reacted negatively to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's prayer at the Pentagon invoking "violence of action."
Public opinion data suggests the incident may have electoral implications, with the broad cross-partisan rejection signaling potential vulnerability for Trump on religious messaging. The poll's findings indicate even his strongest supporters draw a line at certain uses of religious imagery in political contexts.
Some analysts note that while the initial backlash was intense, the story dominated news cycles for only 24 hours, and no lasting political damage has been measured yet. The president's base may forgive the episode if it remains a one-off misstep rather than a pattern of religious provocation.