Just days after joking that he’d love to become the next Pope, US president Donald Trump doubled down on the gag by posting an AI-generated image of himself dressed head to toe in papal robes.
The president posted the picture at 10:29 p.m. Friday, without a caption or comment. The post immediately garnered positive and negative reaction online.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump was asked this week whom he’d like to see succeed Francis as the new pope. “I’d like to be pope,” “That would be my number one choice. No, I don’t know, I have no preference. … I must say, we have a cardinal [Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York since 2009] that happens to be out of a place called New York, who’s very good.
“So, we’ll see what happens.”
Then on Saturday, he took the joke further, posting the AI image on Truth Social showing himself in white vestments, a mitre and ornate cross.
Trump posted the picture in a post via his Truth Social account on Friday night.
Recall that Francis, who died in April, suffered a stroke and heart failure. The Catholic Church is currently preparing for a conclave set to begin on May 7, following the death of Pope Francis earlier this month. The College of Cardinals will convene in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new leader for the 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide
Trump was among several world leaders at the pope’s funeral.
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However, after Trump posted the AI-generated image of himself dressed in papal attire, some social media users accused him of mocking Francis’ death.
“This is disgusting and entirely offensive,” one person wrote.
Another commented, “This is disrespectful to the church and God himself… he’s literally the antichrist.”
A third person tweeted, “How disrespectful to Catholics. That is what Trump and his maggots are all about, disrespect and meanness and stupidity. How dare you mock the process we Catholics go through to pick a new pope.”
Another person tweeted: “This is extremely disrespectful and narcissistic. republicans really voted for that.”
Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health and former Democratic congressional candidate, also posted to X on Friday night, saying, “The guy who broke all 10 commandments is posting pictures of himself cosplaying as the next Pope.”
Meanwhile, the Vatican had a few days ago announced that the conclave to elect the new Pope would begin on Wednesday, May 7.