Donald Trump said he does not know who created the now-infamous AI image of him as the Pope but insisted that “Catholics love it,” despite widespread outrage both at home and abroad.
The president said that those that were offended by the image couldn’t “take a joke” and that his wife – First Lady Melania Trump – thought the image was “cute.”
In the image – which was shared by the official accounts of both the president and the White House – an unsmiling Trump is seated in an ornate chair, dressed in white papal vestments and headdress, with his right forefinger raised.
At a White House briefing on Monday, the president was challenged over it image by Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich, who claimed some Catholics were “not happy” about it.
“You mean they can’t take a joke?” he replied. “You don’t mean the Catholics You mean the fake news. The Catholics loved it. I had nothing to do with it. Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the pope and they put it out on the internet – that’s not me that did it.”
Contrary to his claim, the Catholic Bishops of New York State previously expressed their clear displeasure at the AI image. “There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr President,” they wrote on X.
“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.”
Even New York cardinal Timothy Dolan, who Trump endorsed as a “very good” candidate for the next Holy Father, said that the stunt “wasn’t good.” When asked by reporters about his thoughts on the post, Dolan replied that he hoped Trump “didn’t have anything to do with that.”
Back in the White House, Trump insisted that he had not.
“I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI,” he said. “But I know nothing about it. I just saw it the last evening. Actually My wife thought it was cute. ‘Ha ha’ she said, ‘Isn’t that nice’.”
“I would not be able to be married though … to the best of my knowledge popes aren’t big on getting married are they? Not that we know of no. I think it’s the fake news media, they’re fakers.”
When pushed on the fact that the “meme” had been shared by the official White House account, and whether this “diminished the substance” of the account, Trump replied “Oh give me a break,” before moving on.
