Donald Trump is once again leaning on religious imagery to strengthen his political message, sharing a bizarre meme suggesting that Jesus sent him to undo Barack Obama’s policies. The timing is hard to overlook. The post comes as polling has shown Trump losing support among several Christian groups, while his ongoing feud with Obama continues to draw attention away from the economic issues Republicans wanted voters focused on during the midterm campaign.

The image, originally shared by actor and conservative commentator Kevin Sorbo, shows Obama speaking with a Jesus-like figure surrounded by clouds and gold-adorned columns. Obama complains that Trump is “reversing all of my policies!” The figure responds: “You reversed all of mine, which is why I sent Trump.”

Trump reposted the image on Truth Social without adding a separate explanation, but its message was unmistakable: his political mission was being presented through the language of divine purpose. Whether intended as humor, political theatre or an attempt to rally religious supporters, the post has arrived at a particularly sensitive moment for a president whose standing among Christian voters is no longer as strong as it was when he began his second term.

A Divine Mission as Christian Approval Takes a Hit

According to the Pew Research Center figures cited by Forbes, Trump’s approval among white evangelical Protestants has fallen 20 percentage points, from 78% at the beginning of his second term to 58% in the latest survey. His approval among Protestants overall has also dropped, from 58% to 39%, while the figures for white Catholics and Catholics overall have declined as well. These numbers do not mean that evangelical support has disappeared, but they point to a noticeable shift in a group that has remained an important part of Trump’s political coalition.

That gives Trump’s religious messaging added political significance. He has repeatedly portrayed himself as a defender of Christian values, and this latest post takes that message further by suggesting that Jesus himself sent him to carry out his political mission. But with his approval among several Christian groups reportedly falling, the timing raises an awkward question: will this kind of imagery help him reconnect with religious voters, or could it make some of them even less comfortable with the message he is sending?

There is a recent history behind the reaction. In April, Trump shared an AI-generated image that appeared to show him wearing biblical-style robes and healing a sick man. After criticism from some Christians, he deleted it less than a day later, saying it was intended to portray him as a Red Cross worker. He subsequently shared another image showing Jesus embracing him, accompanied by the caption: “The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!”

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Obama’s Bait Is Still Pulling Trump Off Message

The latest meme also brings Obama back into a feud that has become a recurring distraction for the president. Just days earlier, Obama mocked the lavish White House renovations at a campaign rally, joking that Trump had made the building look like “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”

The remark was more than a passing joke. As Los Angeles Times columnist Anita Chabria argued, Obama understood that a personal dig at Trump’s taste and gold-heavy décor would be difficult for him to ignore. Trump responded, his allies joined the argument, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent even visited a Cheesecake Factory to defend the restaurant against the criticism. Suddenly, a dispute over White House decoration was taking up valuable political attention during the final stretch of the midterm campaign.

The new meme keeps that same rivalry alive, placing Obama in a fictional conversation with Jesus and turning Trump’s policy reversals into a suggestion that he was chosen for the task. It is another reminder of how easily the president can be drawn into a public exchange centered on his personal rivalry with his predecessor.

A Risky Message After Election Day

With the midterm elections now over, the political focus has shifted to what the results mean for Trump and the Republican Party as they look ahead to the next phase of his presidency. The campaign may have ended, but the questions surrounding the economy, household costs and the administration’s record have not disappeared. Trump’s latest social media activity has instead revived debate about religious imagery, his relationship with Christian voters and his continuing fixation on Obama.

The president may see the meme as a way to energize supporters and present his policies as part of a larger moral mission. But with approval among several Christian groups falling, and Obama’s provocation still generating a response, the political calculation is not straightforward.

The big question now is whether this message will help Trump reconnect with religious voters or reinforce the impression that, even after the midterms, he remains more focused on defending his image and taking aim at Obama than addressing the issues voters are most concerned about.