Riley Gaines addresses spat with MAGA over AI Jesus post, says 'humility' would serve Trump
OutKick’s Riley Gaines addressed her criticism of President Donald Trump that led him to respond he wasn't a "fan" of the conservative influencer, reiterating Tuesday she thought the AI image he posted of himself as a Christ-like figure was inappropriate.
Gaines said she'd received "so much pushback" from the MAGA base for her opinion.
"Multiple things, really, can be true here. No. 1, I do believe humility would serve President Trump, No. 2, God shall not be mocked, and blasphemy is not something to take lightly, and three, I don’t regret my vote at all," Gaines said on her show. "But this online base, the discourse that exists there, it makes you feel like you're the crazy person for saying those things."
Gaines was among the conservative voices on Monday who objected to an image of Trump in robes healing a sick man, surrounded by followers and patriotic imagery.
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Americans on both sides of the aisle, including many Trump supporters, criticized the image as inappropriate and even blasphemous.
Trump was asked Monday about the image of himself, which he later deleted.
"I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross… which we support, and only the fake news could come up with that one," Trump told reporters.
"It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better," Trump continued. "And I do make people better."
Later in the day, a reporter asked Trump if he deleted the image because of criticism from Gaines and other supporters.
"I didn't listen to Riley Gaines. I'm not a big fan of Riley, actually," Trump said.
Gaines also asked guest and Green Beret veteran Nick Freitas about the situation on Tuesday.
Freitas said he was glad Trump took the image down, adding there were three categories of people who were responding to the controversy: People who always bash Trump, MAGA supporters who thought Trump shouldn't be criticized because it made common cause with liberals, and "common sense" people like Freitas and Gaines who thought he shouldn't have posted it but still supported his presidency.
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"Anybody that's depicting themselves in a picture where they're obviously making some sort of comparison between themselves and Christ, it is not a good idea, right?" he said. "Christ is someone to be venerated."
Gaines also detailed her thoughts on social media, saying she continued to support his agenda.
"I love the President and I'm so grateful he's in the Oval Office. Of course, I'll continue to support him and the America First agenda," Gaines wrote. "At the end of the day, I do nothing for the approval of man. Our purpose on this earth is to glorify [God] in all we do."
Watch more content from "The Riley Gaines Show" on Gaines' YouTube page.