Somehow we are still capable of surprise and even shock when it comes to President Donald Trump’s behavior, despite all he has done throughout his public life and throughout his time as the dominant figure in American politics. This tells us something about our psychology and about our expectations for the office of the president.

So while some people yawned when Trump posted on social media an image of himself as Jesus, apparently raising a man from the dead, many people were shocked, and some were appalled. Because enough of Trump’s allies told him that this wasn’t cute, and was in fact, blasphemous, he took down the post. He later claimed, implausibly, that he didn’t think it was portraying himself as Jesus, but was instead portraying himself as a Red Cross doctor.