President Trump dismissed a question asking him about Catholics who were bothered by the artificial intelligence-created image of him dressed like a pope, blaming it instead on the media.
“Oh, I see, you mean they can’t take a joke? You don’t mean the Catholics, you mean the fake news media. The Catholics loved it,” Mr. Trump said Monday.
“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. I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI. But, I know nothing about it,” he said.
He said he only saw the image Sunday night, adding that first lady Melania Trump thought it was “cute.”
The president joked that he wouldn’t be able to be married if he were the pope.
“To the best of my knowledge, popes aren’t big on getting married, are they? Not that we know of. No,” he said.
There would also be a more fundamental block. While contrary to the current centuries-old rules, married bishops are possible and have legitimately happened. But popes have to be Catholic and Mr. Trump is not.
The image, featuring Mr. Trump in a white cassock and miter hat with a big gold cross around his neck and sitting on a gold chair, was posted on his Truth Social account Friday evening. The White House reposted the photo on X over the weekend.
Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21.
The AI image of Mr. Trump was posted during the Novemdiales, the nine days of formal mourning in the Catholic Church after a pope’s funeral.
Asked whether the official White House X account was debased by posting the joke image, Mr. Trump said, “Give me a break.”
“Somebody did it in fun. It’s fine. Have to have a little fun, don’t ya?” he said.
Catholics criticized the image, including Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan, who said after a Mass in Rome that he hoped Mr. Trump “didn’t have anything to do with that.”
“It wasn’t good,” he said.
“There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President,” The New York State Catholic Conference, which lobbies on behalf of bishops in the Empire State, said on social media.
“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,” the organization continued. “Do not mock us.”
The cardinals will enter a papal conclave at the Vatican on Wednesday to elect the next pope.
Mr. Trump attended Francis’ funeral on April 26. Upon his return, a reporter asked who should be the next pope, and he said in jest, “I’d like to be pope. That would be my No. 1 choice.”
