More than four months after President Donald Trump faced backlash for posting a meme depicting himself as Jesus, Vice President JD Vance is arguing that the president was just “trying to keep things light” and did not mean to “mock” God or Christians.

Appearing Monday on the “Bryce Crawford Podcast,” Vance was asked about his take on the AI-generated photo that Trump posted in April a week after Easter, in which he appeared dressed in a flowing white and red robe and touched a sick man to heal him.

“I’m a Christian, I saw the photo — it made me upset,” host Crawford told Vance. “I’m not going to lie, it made me upset.”

Vance quickly defended Trump.

“I hear ya, and I know the president didn’t mean any offense,” Vance responded. “Obviously, he loves Christians, and politically has done a lot of good for religious liberty, and certainly didn’t mean anything by it.”

Noting that he’s “biased because I see this from the inside,” he continued, “So it’s like, ‘Did Donald Trump mean to post a meme of himself as God?’ No.”

Calling Trump a “bit of a ball buster,” Vance alleged that Trump “just likes to have a good time” and is “so fascinated by AI.”

Vance then explained the “background” behind the Jesus pic fiasco, telling Crawford that “people will bring [Trump] stuff” that they think the president will find entertaining. He claimed that Trump is too busy to spend much time on social media.

Trump’s Truth Social account made, on average, 18 posts a day last year, according to data collected by data journalists at WBAL.

“Sometimes he’ll, like, chuckle at it, and sometimes if he really thinks it’s funny, he’ll have somebody post it,” Vance continued. “And that’s exactly what happened here.”

After facing bipartisan criticism over the controversial Jesus meme, Trump deleted it the next morning. He had posted the meme on April 12, the same day he targeted Pope Leo XIV for his criticism of the war in Iran.

Trump later alleged to reporters that the meme showed him “as a doctor” and not as Jesus Christ.

“I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor,” he told reporters at the White House on April 13. “Only the fake news could come up with that one.”

Crawford pushed back on Vance’s response.

“I don’t know how he thought he was a doctor in the photo,” Crawford argued. “He was [wearing] a white robe with a red sash on it, you know, and that makes me upset as a Christian.”

Vance went on to accuse the media of trying to “exacerbate the division” over Trump’s meme “by treating things that the president does as humorous and saying ‘this is him being serious’ or ‘this is him pretending to be Jesus.’”

“[Trump] did not mean to mock or mimic God. That’s just not who he is,” Vance added.

Watch Vance’s appearance on the “Bryce Crawford Podcast” below. Skip to the 1:03:09 mark to hear Vance’s remarks.

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