‘How is this not idolatry?’: MAGAs are questioned for their extreme idolization of Donald Trump after viral clip

Social media users are questioning whether MAGA supporters are veering towards idolatry, after a video of a painter dancing while drawing Donald Trump went viral on social media. 

The video in question appears to have been captured at the Liberty Inauguration Ball, held on the eve of Trump’s inauguration back in January. The clip sees Vanessa Horabuena — who describes herself as a “talented Christian worship artist” on her website — take to the stage to gradually paint a picture of Trump in front of legions of audience members. At various points, the clip cuts to show the crowd singing along to a soundtrack of religious hymns, before finally revealing the entire portrait bearing a side profile of the president’s face looking at a cross. 

There was so many emotions, going through this from the call with president. trump to the day. God gave me a vision of this, a lifelong dream of mine has came true… God blessed me with this opportunity and he has paved the ways to make this possible. May God bless each and… pic.twitter.com/PAfm2jCmzX

— Vanessa Horabuena (@V_Horabuena) January 29, 2025

It all has the faint whiff of overzealous worship, which is exactly the sentiment that users shared in response to the clip. “How is this not just idolatry?” one user wrote, while another chimed in that “the idolatry of Trump has become so normalized.” Elsewhere, users described the display as “blasphemy, idolatry, [and] cultism,” or said that “play[ing] worship music while painting a pic of Trump is a bridge too far.” One commenter took particular umbrage with the video because, in other artistic circles, Trump “has literally been interpreted to be the antichrist.”

Surprised no one has tagged me in this.

The idolatry of Trump has become so normalized.

— Donnie Discerned (@DonnieDarkened) April 9, 2025

That specific idea became particularly widespread earlier this year, when flocks of critics deemed Trump’s AI video about his plans for Gaza — in which he appears as a giant golden statue — as evidence of him being a supposed antichrist. On the contrary, Trump has fancied himself a God-like figure in statements of his own over the years. Last year, Trump took to Truth Social to compare himself to Jesus Christ amid the height of the criminal and civil cases against him. 

Seeing his legal troubles as a form of persecution, Trump relayed a message he claimed to have received from a supporter, which read: “It’s ironic that Christ walked through His greatest persecution the very week they are trying to steal your property from you.” Then, following the assassination attempt on his life back in September, Trump told conservative Christian voters at a rally in North Carolina that he was anointed by the “supernatural hand” of God to win a second term in office. 

Very normal stuff here. Not a cult!

— Mike McKee (@MikeMcKeeDrums) February 9, 2025

That “supernatural hand” he speaks of certainly found its way to Horabuena, who wrote in the caption of her original clip that “God blessed me with this opportunity” and “gave me a vision” of the portrait she painted. It’s not the first time MAGA supporters have been accused of idolatry or cult-like worship of Trump. Just last week, Adam Kinzinger questioned whether a proposal put forth by Republicans to carve Trump’s face into Mount Rushmore was evidence of “a cult,” a sentiment that could also be applied to the bill seeking to define ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ as an actual mental illness.

Regardless of where you stand in terms of Trump being either God or the antichrist, can we at least agree that Horabuena’s portrait was at least marginally better than the one Trump criticized last month. That, folks, was perhaps the biggest sin of all.