WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES — An AI-generated image posted by the former President of the United States, depicting himself as the Pope, has drawn considerable criticism as cardinals gather this week to elect a new leader of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church. The image was shared shortly after he made lighthearted remarks about potentially assuming the papacy himself.
The former President, who is not Catholic and does not regularly attend church, shared the image on his Truth Social platform late on Friday, occurring just days after attending the funeral of Pope Francis, who passed away last month at the age of 88. The White House subsequently reposted the image on its official X account.
The image portrays an unsmiling figure in white papal vestments and headdress, seated in an ornate chair, with the right forefinger raised. The post was met with immediate condemnation on X, including from Republicans Against Trump, a group identifying as “pro-democracy conservative Republicans fighting Trump & Trumpism.” The group reposted the image, labeling it “a blatant insult to Catholics and a mockery of their faith.”
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni declined to comment on the image during a briefing with journalists regarding the upcoming papal election process, which commences on May 7th.
Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi commented on X, saying: “This is an image that offends believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the global right enjoys being a clown. In the meantime, the American economy risks recession and the dollar loses value.” The Catholic bishops of New York state also voiced their disapproval on X.
“There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President,” they wrote. “We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St. Peter. Do not mock us.”
On Tuesday, the former President had jokingly suggested he would be his own preferred candidate for Pope, before mentioning Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York as a “very good” option.
Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, is not considered to be among the leading candidates for the papacy, though Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, is. There has never been a Pope from the United States.
In mid-February, the former President and official White House social media accounts shared a different AI-generated image, this one depicting the former president wearing a crown and captioned “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
In West Palm Beach, Debbie Macchia, 60, was among a group of supporters waiting for the former president’s motorcade at his golf club on Saturday morning.
“He was clearly joking. Clearly joking,” said Macchia, who is Jewish. “But I wouldn’t want to see them do anything sacrilegious with the pope, or anything.”
