A billboard hailing Donald Trump as the second coming of Jesus Christ has been taken down.
The billboard was located near the city of Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia.
It featured a picture of Trump looking on alongside a misquoted passage from the Bible which read: “Unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders.”
The billboard incorrectly claimed that the quote came from Romans 8:17.
In actual fact it was paraphrased from another chapter and verse, Isaiah 9:6, which reads: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
The billboard drew widespread criticism on Twitter, with Scott’s followers branding it at best “misleading” and at worst both “sacrilegious” and “blasphemous.”
Since then Reagan Outdoor Advertising, the company that owns and operates the billboard space, has confirmed that the advertisement has been removed.
In an email to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Scott Hibberts, the general manager of Reagan Outdoor Advertising-Chattanooga, confirmed the display’s message was removed on Monday.
Hibberts told the news outlet that the ad was originally placed for a client working with Impact Outdoor Media Group of Atlanta. He added that his company was unable to provide any further information on the client involved.
Newsweek has reached out to Impact Outdoor Media Group of Atlanta.
Hibberts gave no express reason for the adverts removal, saying that Reagan Outdoor Advertising “supports our advertiser’s First Amendment rights and the use of our displays to promote legal products and services, as well as other messages that may be editorial in nature.”
He did, however, add that the company provides firms and citizens “with a powerful medium to reach the public as long as those messages are not offensive to the moral standards of the community, do not provide misleading or false statements, and are legal.”
Hibberts also stressed that “the views expressed on our displays belong to our advertisers.”