Civil Rights Activist Bishop William Barber has accused President Donald Trump of having a God complex following recent statements and pictures the president has posted on social media.
Barber’s comments come after Trump said he would send Iranians to hell, publicly sparred with the Pope, and posted a now-deleted AI-generated photo of himself depicted as Jesus.
"Why is the pope’s teaching getting under his skin? Why is what Jesus teaches bothering the president so much?” Barber asked during a press conference the day after Trump deleted the photo following pressure and backlash from his Christian base, according to Baptist News.
“It raises the question, are you trying to compete with God?” Barber added.
He continued: “What we are watching is a war on divinity, an attempt by a human being to shift the moral compass and for us to engage in a kind of moral deregulation where nothing is sacred anymore except what he says and an AI image of him as Jesus.”
On Easter Sunday, Trump posted an expletive-laden threat to the Iranians on Truth Social, ending the message with "Praise be to Allah."
“It is a war on divinity when you think because of a political office you get to decide who lives, who dies, what civilization gets to be and what civilization doesn’t get to be, who gets citizenship and who doesn’t, which parts of the Constitution will matter, which rights will be respected and which rights will not be respected,” Barber said.
Barber accused the president’s statements and recent behaviour of being blasphemous and sinful.
He’s not the only religious leader who has criticised Trump’s behaviour.
American-born Pope Leo XIV has also been vocal in rebuking the Trump administration.
Trump responded to the pontiff in a Truth Social post, stating that he is “Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons” and meets with “Obama Sympathizers".
The president continued: “Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!”
The Pope responded that he doesn’t fear the Trump administration and will "continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today".