Catholic Priest Connects Viral Trump Video Controversy to the “Image of God”
A Catholic commentator is drawing widespread attention after offering a theological reflection on a viral controversy involving former President Donald Trump and an AI-generated video that depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes—a racist trope with deep historical roots.
The video, which briefly appeared on Trump’s Truth Social account before being removed, sparked immediate backlash. According to reports, the post was later attributed to a staffer and described as having been shared without full review.
While some Republicans called for an apology, Trump stated he did not believe he had made a mistake and declined to apologize.
For many observers, the controversy centered on race and political responsibility. But the Catholic priest approached the issue from a different angle: Christian anthropology.
Instead of focusing solely on partisan implications, he connected the incident to Bishop Robert Barron’s teaching on the Imago Dei—the biblical doctrine that every human being is made in the image of God.
“How in the world does that connect?” he asked at the beginning of his reflection. “Stick around.”
Drawing from Bishop Barron’s explanation, he outlined a key idea: being made in the image of God is not merely a status but a mission. According to this view, humanity is created to worship God rightly, speak truthfully about reality, and bring order reflective of God’s wisdom into the world.
In the Book of Genesis, Adam is given the task of naming the animals—an act that symbolizes humanity’s responsibility to “catalog” creation truthfully. To name something properly is to acknowledge its nature as God created it.
When that naming becomes distorted, Barron argues, something in the divine image is compromised.
The priest applied that framework directly to the viral video.
“When you call one of God’s humans an ape,” he said, “you’re not living into the Imago Dei. You’re not cataloging. You’re fabricating.”
Historically, comparing Black individuals to apes has been used as a dehumanizing tactic to justify discrimination and violence. The priest emphasized that such language—or imagery—does more than insult; it distorts the truth about who a person is.
In his view, the problem is not merely political incivility but theological failure.
“If God created human beings in His image,” he explained, “then to reduce them to something less is to lie about creation itself.”
He tied this idea to the New Testament Letter of James, which warns about the destructive power of the tongue. Words, like a ship’s rudder, steer entire lives. Speech can either reflect truth or sow disorder.
According to the priest, degrading speech reveals misplaced worship.
Borrowing from theologian Paul Tillich, he noted: “If I want to understand everything about you, I ask: What do you worship?”
If someone consistently elevates themselves by diminishing others, he argued, it signals devotion not to God but to ego, power, or tribal loyalty.
Importantly, the priest did not frame the issue as exclusive to one political party. He cautioned that idolatry—placing idenтιтy in party, ideology, or personality—can occur on the left or the right.
“The devil is good at fabricating lies,” he said. “Doesn’t matter if you go left or right.”
For him, the heart of the matter is worship. When worship is rightly ordered toward God, it shapes how believers speak and act. When worship shifts toward ego, status, or political power, speech becomes weaponized.
Christ, he noted, modeled the opposite pattern—taking on the form of a servant rather than grasping for dominance. That humility stands in stark contrast to rhetoric that seeks to defame or diminish.
The priest concluded with a call for self-examination rather than partisan outrage.
“You can probably think of a time this week,” he said, “when you tried to denigrate someone in your mind or with your words.”
His challenge was clear: before pointing fingers, Christians must examine how their own speech aligns—or fails to align—with the Imago Dei.
Online reaction to the reflection has been mixed. Some praise the priest for addressing racism through a theological lens rather than a purely political one. Others argue that the focus should remain on political accountability and public responsibility.
Yet the priest’s central message transcends party lines: every human being bears God’s image, and how we speak about others reveals what we truly worship.
“If you actually live into Christ’s love,” he concluded, “you won’t call another human an ape.”
