WASHINGTON — On Monday evening, comedian Jon Stewart was taken aback after noticing an uncanny resemblance to himself in a bizarre meme shared by President Trump. The meme, posted late Sunday, depicted Trump as Jesus Christ.
During a segment on “The Daily Show,” Stewart was at a loss for words and exclaimed, “Oh my God,” as he processed the image. “Is that the guy in the bed? Can I just—” he began, struggling to comprehend.
The controversial image, created with artificial intelligence, showed Trump in a Christ-like role, healing an elderly, frail man. The post was met with accusations of blasphemy from some members of the religious community, leading Trump to delete it.
Upon closer inspection, Stewart humorously questioned, “Am I okay?” as he continued to assess the situation.
“What the f—,” he expressed, clearly concerned. “I mean, I know I don’t have the energy of my MTV days anymore, but I wasn’t aware it had gotten this bad. I didn’t realize I looked like I was in leper territory.”
Reflecting on the image, Stewart remarked, “From the picture, it seems like it was touch and go for a while. Thankfully, I had my family by my side,” he quipped, despite being an atheist. “This is really freaking me the f— out… At least Jesus-Trump brought his healing orb.”
While accepting DoorDash grandma-delivered McDonald’s at the White House on Monday, Trump, 79, claimed that he posted the image because he “thought it was me as a doctor and it had to do with the Red Cross.”
The image showed Trump in white robes with a red sash surrounded by an American flag, bald eagles, and fighter jets. There was also a winged creature with horns in the background sky.
“I like how there’s only so much AI can do. Like AI is like, ‘I can give you the fireworks and the healing powers, and I can make you Jesus, but you weigh what you weigh,’” Stewart chided. “You’re gonna have to be fat Jesus.”
The posting came on the heels of Trump’s broadsides against Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, for being “soft on crime” and weak on foreign policy — something Stewart noted before grappling with the resemblance between himself and the sickly man in them.
“Trump’s comments about the pope upset a lot of people of the Christian faith. But please don’t worry, it gets worse,” the liberal comedian said, before getting to the Jesus image.
The president has stood by his criticism of the first American pope, refusing to apologize.
“Pope Leo said things that are wrong,” Trump said. “You can not have a nuclear Iran. Pope Leo would not be happy with the end result.”
