Riley Gaines calls Trump's AI image blasphemous, says GOP leaders agree

Conservative podcast Riley Gaines says she's getting great support for calling out President Donald Trump for blasphemy over a beatific AI-generated image many likened to Jesus on April 12.

Among those reaching out to her, she told The Tennessean, have been top Congressional leaders and some Trump Administration cabinet members — but they've done so privately, Gaines said at a coffeeshop near her home in Gallatin, Tennessee.

"Virtually every member of the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate, people in his administration, other secretaries in his Cabinet are reaching out to me," Gaines said, "saying, thank you for saying this, thank you for having the bravery to say this, I'm right there with you."

Gaines declined to identify which Republican leaders reached out to her or how many did so.

But, she added, "virtually all the ones that I have good relationships with. There are a lot in leadership positions who have reached out."

The image posted on Truth Social shows Trump in a white tunic and a red shawl, one hand aglow and the other placed on the forehead of a bedridden man. It shows a woman with her hands pressed together as if in prayer, against a backdrop of eagles soaring through the clouds and figures emerging from the sky.

"I thought it was me as a doctor. And it had to do with Red Cross," he told reporters at the White House, the USA TODAY Co. network reported. "And only the fake news could come up with that one...I make people a lot better."

The dustup comes as both Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance have spoken out against Pope Leo.

“I think it's very, very important for the Pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” Vance said April 14 at a Turning Point USA rally in Georgia, USA TODAY reported.

The president's social media comments have included calling Leo "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy."

The day after Trump's since-deleted post appeared online, Gaines posted on X: "Why? Seriously, I cannot understand why he'd post this.... A little humility would serve him well."

The president dismissed Gaines, a longtime and ardent Trump supporter on her podcast, The Riley Gaines Show, in an interview with CBS News.

"I didn't listen to Riley Gaines," he said. "I'm not a big fan of Riley, actually."

Trump has since posted a new AI image of Jesus hugging him.

Gaines said she was glad to know some of the most powerful Republicans in the country support her privately, but disappointed that they "publicly kind of leave me hung out to dry."

"It just reinforces that there's no shortage of cowardice on either side of the political aisle," she said. "There's so much lip service and people doing what is politically expedient and trying to climb the ladder to better serve themselves."

Gaines said she remains a strong Trump supporter and agrees with more than 95% of the moves he has made as president.

She said Trump's dismissive comments about her don't bother her.

"I try to do what I can as one person to first and foremost lead people to Christ, and secondly, advance conservative causes," Gaines said.

"With that, I don't feel one way or the other if the president likes me, doesn't like me. Because at the end of the day, I don't serve him. I don't serve any man who walks this earth. I serve one savior and his name is Jesus Christ."

Gaines, a Nashville native and former NCAA swimmer, built her political platform after criticizing the National Collegiate Athletic Association for allowing the University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, to compete in the women's division.

Tennessean Heartbeat columnist Brad Schmitt, who is preparing a Mother's Day story with Riley Gaines, can be reached at [email protected].