The Vatican has reacted to President Donald Trump’s ‘extremely disrespectful’ AI Pope image.
After the death of Pope Francis last month, there has been speculation as to who will take on the highest role within the Catholic Church next.
The conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor will start today (May 7), although an unlikely contender has jokingly thrown his hat into the ring.
Taking to his own social media platform, Truth Social, Trump shared an AI generated image of himself dressed like the pope.
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The image was later shared on the official White House account on X, formerly Twitter.
This came just days after the US president joked that he would ‘like to be pope’.
Trump has faced backlash for posting the image which some have said is ‘extremely disrespectful’.
The former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi shared his disapproval of the image, saying: “This is an image that offends believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the rightwing world enjoys clowning around.”
The New York State Catholic Conference also took to social media to share their thoughts on the matter, writing: “There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President.
“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.”
Many took to Twitter themselves to share their own reactions to the image, with one user writing: “This is disrespectful to the church and God himself… he’s literally the antichrist.”
And another added: “If Hell exists, he’s booked a room.”
When quizzed about the backlash, White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, claimed that Trump has ‘been a staunch champion for Catholics and religious liberty’.
Responding to the criticism himself, Trump said: “I had nothing to do with it. It was just, somebody did it in fun. It’s fine. Have to have a little fun, don’t you?”
Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who is a close ally of Trump, chimed in on Twitter saying: “I was excited to hear that President Trump is open to the idea of being the next Pope. This would truly be a dark horse candidate, but I would ask the papal conclave and Catholic faithful to keep an open mind about this possibility!”
He went on to add: “The first Pope-U.S. President combination has many upsides. Watching for white smoke …. Trump MMXXVIII!”