Actress and singer Bette Midler, best known for her roles in Hocus Pocus, Beaches, and The First Wives Club, won the internet today with a hilarious post on X (inferior Twitter).
Midler, or the actual creator, took a common theme from right-wing art and memes — Jesus standing with Donald Trump through his court trials, Jesus guiding Trump as president, and catastrophically inaccurate comparisons between Trump and Christ — and gave it a twist.
Her post features an image of Trump and Jesus in a tender embrace. The caption reads: “It was at this point that Jesus realized his wallet was missing.”
The meme pokes fun at the religious right’s portrayal of Donald Trump as a serious Christian or Christ-like figure. A number of Christians of course see through such absurd ideas. It also plays on the former president’s cheapskate nature and devotion to — and desperation for — cold hard cash. Hundreds of contractors, lawyers, and other workers have accused Trump of not paying his bills over the years. With his recent libel verdicts in civil court creating a nearly half-billion dollar punishment, his legal fees exploding, and more court sentencings and cases coming, Trump has turned to using campaign donations to pay debts, plus hocking pieces of his clothing, trading cards featuring himself as a superhero, and even bibles to make some coin. Jesus would be thrilled.
There are a couple of other layers to the humor, though. It’s funny that Trump is taller than Jesus, and it looks more like Donald is comforting God, rather than the other way around; it somewhat looks like Jesus just got dumped. The thought of Jesus having a wallet, in the modern sense of the term, is also quite biting. And, of course, it is simply amazing that whoever created this image — whether Midler or a conservative she stole it from — used artificial intelligence, which appears to have given Trump a third hand. Perfect for lifting a billfold.
