Trump slams Paris Olympics opening ceremony over ‘Last Supper’ controversy

Former President Donald Trump has slammed the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics over a controversial performance that critics said was a parody of the Last Supper and a slap in the face to Christians around the world.

Trump became the latest public figure to speak out about the controversy when he criticized Trump’s performance as a “disgrace” during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” on Monday.

“I actually thought the opening ceremony was a disgrace,” the Republican presidential candidate said. “I thought it was a disgrace.”

The scene in question featured drag queens and performers lined up at a table on either side of lesbian activist and French DJ Barbara Butch, who wore a headpiece resembling a halo, as the group rode a boat down the Seine.

The ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, said he took his inspiration from Greek mythology and the festival of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine depicted by nearly naked singer Philippe Katerine in blue body paint among fruit and flowers – rather than from the famous Biblical story.

“My wish is not to be subversive, nor to mock or shock,” Jolly said. “I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide.”

But Christians said the similarity to Leonardo da Vinci’s fresco of the ‘Last Supper’ of Jesus with his 12 apostles was eerie and offensive.

The Bishops’ Conference of the French Catholic Church quickly condemned the spectacle.

“This ceremony unfortunately included scenes of mockery and ridicule of Christianity, which we deeply deplore,” the French Bishops’ Conference said in a statement.

Trump called the action in bad taste.

“I mean, they can do certain things. I thought it was horrible,” he said. “Look, I’m for everybody. I’m very open-minded… but I thought what they did was a disgrace.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed in his remarks Saturday that the controversy surrounding the Olympic celebration was part of the “war” on Christian faith and traditions.

“Last night’s mockery of the Last Supper was shocking and offensive to Christians around the world watching the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony,” he tweeted. “The war on our faith and traditional values ​​today knows no bounds. But we know that truth and virtue will always triumph.”

Olympic organizers said it was not their intention to offend anyone’s religion and apologized on Sunday to those who felt offended.

“It was clearly never the intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, I think we really tried to celebrate the tolerance of the community (with) Thomas Jolly,” spokesperson Anne Descamps said during a press conference on Sunday.

“Looking at the results of the polls we shared, we believe this ambition has been achieved. If people feel offended, we are of course very sorry.”