Prominent Democratic strategist James Carville says President Donald Trump can’t be the Antichrist because he’s too dumb, asserting that the “Antichrist would be smarter than him.”
During an episode of Politicon’s Politics War Room podcast posted Tuesday, Carville spoke about how several influential Republican figures have gone as far as calling Trump the Antichrist.
That includes former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, while Rod Dreher, who Carville referred to as Vance’s “spiritual mentor,” said the president is “radiating the spirit of Antichrist, no question,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Well, I haven’t gotten there,” said Carville, who earlier declared that he has “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” seemingly suggesting his criticisms haven’t been that extreme.
Carville fired off at those critical of his vulgar rants about Trump, telling viewers: “All the people that fight in the street about my name-calling, understand this. I have not yet referred to Donald John Trump as the Antichrist. Alright? Because I think the Antichrist would be smarter than him.”
The Democratic strategist’s commentary comes after the 79-year-old president drew ire from conservatives, the MAGA world and religious leaders for sharing an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ.
The image showed Trump in a white robe and red sash with a glowing outstretched hand healing a man in a hospital bed. It garnered a strong response from many conservative Christians, including Dreher.
Carlson, who has become a vocal critic of Trump, said last week on his podcast, The Tucker Carlson Show, that he is “tormented” by his previous support of the president.
Carlson spoke about the feud between Trump and Pope Leo, which came after the U.S.-born pontiff spoke against the war with Iran, before questioning whether the president is the Antichrist.
“He’s mocking Jesus. He’s making fun of Christianity. The central figure of the religion is being held up for mockery,” Carlson said. “Could this be the Antichrist? Well, who knows? At least that’s my conclusion. Who knows?”
Former GOP Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, also a former ally of Trump, re-shared the image on X and wrote, “It’s more than blasphemy. It’s an Antichrist spirit.”
“In 18 months I went from hesitantly voting for Trump to thinking there’s a decent chance he’s the antichrist,” Clint Russel, the host of the right-wing Liberty Lockdown podcast, wrote on X.
Right-wing Texas pastor Joel Webbon also weighed in, writing on X, “I genuinely believe Trump is currently demon possessed.”
Trump shared the controversial image in the midst of a feud with Pope Leo, after the pontiff called the president’s threats to wipe a “whole civilization” off the map “truly unacceptable.”
The post was deleted a day later, after Trump claimed that he shared the image because he thought it depicted him as a doctor.
Trump blamed “fake news” for comparing the image to Jesus, but also declined to apologize to the pope.
Meanwhile, the pope has vowed to continue to “speak out loudly against the war.”
“Too many people are suffering in the world today,” he said earlier this month. “Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way.”
Pope Leo’s persistence only angered Trump, who fired off in an April 14 Truth Social rant, “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable. Thank you for your attention to this matter. AMERICA IS BACK!!!”
Both Trump’s current and former vice presidents have weighed in on the feud, with Vance warning that the Pope should be “careful when he talks about matters of theology.”
Mike Pence, who served as Trump’s vice president during his first term, urged Trump to call off his religious tiff with the Pope — and slammed the president for sharing “offensive” images depicting himself as Jesus.
“I think the president was right to take that one image down and his ongoing argument with Pope Leo, I think, has abated to a degree, and I welcome that,” Pence told MS NOW.
“I think the Pope has every right to express himself in a manner that he believes is consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the president has every right to express his view and his agenda for the American people,” he said. “If I was advising him — as I did every day for four and a half years — I’d say: Let the pope be the pope, and you be the president.”
