As President Donald Trump continues his campaign to remain in office despite the Electoral College’s certification of Joe Biden’s victory, social media users are resurfacing a controversial painting that depicts Trump as Jesus Christ being crucified on the cross.
The art: Journalist Wesley Yang and New York Magazine art critic Jerry Saltz are among the Twitter users who in recent days have shared the portrait of Trump, whose well-documented alliance with Evangelical Christians has proven controversial for some.
The origins: The painting sparked controversy on social media in September after a U.S. Marine named Tristan Orvis claimed he was selling it for $7,500 on Facebook.
- “A incredibly detailed quasi-baroque depiction of Donald Trump will be an easy conversation starter/centerpiece in any home (or Clubhouse) with a price suited for the amount of effort invested into it’s creation,” Orvis said in a Facebook post.
- Orvis’ post was flooded with thousands of negative comments both from outraged liberals and Christians who condemned the artwork as “blasphemy.”
- Subsequent posts by Orvis indicated he is not a Trump supporter, and his original post was made in jest.
Why is it back? The president’s most ardent supporters believe he’s been assailed and betrayed on all sides by a combination of biased media and backstabbing establishment Republicans.
- In their view, Trump and sundry “MAGA” diehards like attorney Sidney Powell and former United States National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, are the last remaining bastions in the battle to save America from powerful liberal establishment forces.
