President Trump drew criticism after posting an image of himself dressed as the pope on his account on Truth Social on Friday night. The image, featuring Trump in a white cassock and pointed miter, was presumably generated by artificial intelligence and comes as the Vatican observes nine days of official mourning following Pope Francis’s death on April 21. The church is set to begin the papal conclave on May 7 to choose a new pope.
The New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the state bishops in working with the government, accused Trump of mockery.
“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.”
Trump joked last week about his interest in the vacancy. “I’d like to be pope. That would be my number one choice,” Trump said.
Trump was raised in his Scottish-born mother’s Presbyterian faith, and publicly identified with it for most of his adult life. However, in October 2020, Trump declared that he no longer identified as Presbyterian and now considered himself a nondenominational Christian.
