President Trump said on Monday that he “had nothing to do”, a photo that depicted himself as the pope who was shared at the weekend and white house social media, apparently distinguished himself from the apparently AI-generated image That has agitated Catholics.
“I had nothing to do with it,” Mr. Trump said as he took questions in the Oval Office. “Someone has taken a picture of me dressed like the Pope, and they put it on the internet. I am not who did it, I have no idea where it came from – maybe it was ai, but I have no idea where it came from.”
Mr. Trump, who responded to a question about Catholics who are dissatisfied with the image of him dressed in white papal robes and a ceremonial headdress, also tried to trivial criticism.
“They can’t make a joke,” Mr. Trump said and soon told the reporter, “you don’t mean the Catholics; you mean the fake news media. The Catholics loved it.”
But Catholics throughout the country, including a prominent American cardinal, have presented the image Is offensiveEspecially because they mourn for the death of Pope Francis. Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan van New York, in Rome for the papal conclave, said when he was asked for the image on Sunday that he hoped it wasn’t the president.
“I hope he had nothing to do with that,” said Cardinal Dolan. Asked if he was offended by it, the Cardinal Demarred but called the image a “Brutta Figura”, which means it had made a bad impression.
Although the president insisted that he did not know the image of himself as a pope, it was posted by the White House on X and by his own truth social account, which apparently shared images generated by AI.
Last week asked by reporters who he would like to be Pope, Mr. Trump made the joke for the first time that he was his own “no. 1” choice. He then referred to Cardinal Dolan as “a very good” option. (Mr Dolan is not a likely candidate.)
Mr. Trump is not Catholic, but his wife, Melania Trump, is that Roman Catholic. Mrs Trump apparently loved her husband’s image in papal robes.
“My wife actually thought it was cute,” said Mr. Trump on Monday in the Oval Office. “She said:” Isn’t that fun? “”
Some Catholic leaders in the United States had said that the image could be interpreted as a mockery of their faith. “It is never appropriate to ridicule or mock the papacy,” The New York Times told.
During his two campaigns of the Nation, Mr. Trump received Catholics from the nation, and during the 2024 race he chose a vice president who converted to Catholicism as an adult. Vice -President JD Vance has been open about how his faith informs his politics.
“I like people who tell jokes,” Mr. VANCE Posted on Social Media In response to a question about the image.