'In denial or just dumb?': Stephen King mocks Franklin Graham in Trump AI image row

North Carolina evangelist Franklin Graham's defence of President Donald Trump over his now-deleted AI-generated image has ignited sharp criticism from liberal ranks, with celebrated author Stephen King questioning Graham's intellectual capabilities. Graham, president of the Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and leader of the Boone-based Samaritan's Purse, wrote a lengthy post on social media stating that he does not believe the President "would knowingly depict himself as Jesus Christ." Criticism of Trump's post, he said, was "much ill-intended speculation," adding, "I think his enemies are always foaming at the mouth at any possible opportunity to make him look bad."   

In a short but pointed response, King, a longtime critic of the Trump administration, reposted Graham's statement, asking if he was "in denial" or "just dumb." The controversial image, deleted amidst large-scale backlash, appeared to portray the President as a messianic figure wearing a white robe with a red sash; light glows from his hands as he places his hand on the forehead of a sleeping man. Trump had said that the image was meant to be him as a "doctor" and "had to do with Red Cross."  

"I'm thankful the President has made it very clear that this was not at all what he thought the AI-generated image was representing—he thought it was a doctor helping someone, and when he learned of the concerns, he immediately removed the post," Graham wrote, defending the President. "I'm not a Catholic, I'm an evangelical, but I appreciate how President Trump has defended religious freedom for people of all faiths, including millions of evangelicals and Catholics in the U.S. and around the world," he added.

Graham's explanation, however, failed to assuage King and several other critics. Former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene called Graham's post "one of the worst things I’ve seen." "Trump knows what he is doing. He knows what he posted. He knows how to manipulate his followers. And he's not sorry, he never apologized. Instead he lied, and said he was a doctor, which is also absurd," Greene wrote in an X post.   

Several faith leaders also criticized Graham's post. Talbert Swan, bishop of the Massachusetts Greater Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ, wrote in a post on X, "And every time you excuse wickedness for the sake of a political alliance, you prove you're more loyal to white supremacy than you are to the Gospel. You should be ashamed." Similarly, Fr. Jim Chern said, "You sound more like a supplicant than a Christian leader... absolutely pitiful."