Trump Heavily Criticized for Image Depicting Him as New Pope
The US President faces backlash from Catholics and concerned groups.
A new Pope in town? Not quite. Donald Trump recently posted an AI-generated image of himself as Pope, just days after joking that he would “like to be Pope”. The image has sparked massive outrage, especially from Catholics who have continued to criticize the gesture.
Bad Timing
Trump, who is not a Catholic, posted the image on his Truth Social platform late on Friday. This came less than a week after he attended the funeral of Pope Francis, who died at 88 last month. Also, he and many others broke the dress code by wearing a blue suit.
The White House may have made things worse by reposting the image on its official X account. The photo shows an unsmiling Trump seated in an ornate chair, dressed in white papal vestments and headdress, with his right forefinger raised.
The posting drew instant outrage on X, including from Republicans against Trump, a group that describes itself as “pro-democracy conservative Republicans fighting Trump & Trumpism.”
The group reposted the image, calling it “a blatant insult to Catholics and a mockery of their faith”.
Time to Shut It?
“It’s full-on lunacy at this point,” said Republicans Against Trump.
Former Maryland Governor and Republican National Convention chair Michael Steele also chipped in, saying Trump was like a 10-year-old child.
“This affirms how unserious and incapable he is.”
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni declined to comment on the image during a briefing with journalists about electing a new pope, which begins on May 7.
This is not the only time the President has courted such backlash. In mid-February, both Trump and the official White House social media accounts posted a different AI-generated image of the president wearing a crown and captioned “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
However, many people have rushed to Trump's defense, calling the photo a joke.
