Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) on Wednesday slammed President Donald Trump for criticizing the pope and sharing an artificial intelligence-generated image that portrayed him as a Christ-like figure — and called the MAGA leader a liar for his admittedly dubious excuse.
Beshear appeared on MS NOW and discussed the matter on “The Briefing with Jen Psaki” after Trump disparaged Pope Leo XIV on social media Sunday, calling him “WEAK on Crime” amid the pontiff’s urgent calls for peace in the Iran war, resulting in widespread criticism.
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“I will tell you, this fight with the pope and especially that picture have upset a lot of people I know who are strong Trump supporters, because yes, being a Republican has become part of their identity,” Beshear told Psaki. “Supporting Trump has become part of their identity.”
He continued, “But now he is saying, you have to put him above your faith, that if he gets in a fight with the pontiff, the head of your church, that you still better side with him. And look at some of the cowards that are out there doing it, and just the craziness of all this.”
Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday urged the pope “to be careful” when discussing “matters of theology,” which is quite literally his job. Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) have both condemned the pontiff’s calls for peace by invoking the just war theory.
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Trump followed up his rant Sunday by sharing an image that showed him robed and placing his glowing hand on a suffering elderly man. Trump deleted it and claimed he thought it showed him as a doctor, which Beshear on Wednesday appeared to reject as a poor excuse.
“First, he admitted he posted it, but then he said, ‘I thought that I was being depicted as a doctor,’” he said. “Well, listen, if I was ever in an operating room and somebody walked in in Jesus robes with orbs in his hand, I would’ve thought that it did not go well for me that day.”