Days after President Donald Trump attended the funeral for Pope Francis at the Vatican he told a reporter, “I’d like to be pope.”
Today, the non-Catholic POTUS shared an AI-generated image of himself as the Pope on his social media platform — and the official White House account on X also shared the image.
According to Reuters, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni — while briefing journalists about the process of electing a new pope (which begins Wednesday, May 7) — declined to comment on the image.
The New York Catholic Conference responded on X: “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.”
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. https://t.co/ortxbkDlT5
— NYS Catholic Conference (@NYSCatholicConf) May 3, 2025
Former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile, who is Catholic, also responded by writing: “Can someone inform POTUS that we are still mourning the great loss of #PopeFrancis? The death of a pope is solemnly observed in a nine-day mourning period known as the Novemdiales.”
So far there has been little reaction from Congress, despite a record number of Catholics in the U.S. legislature. (GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham is an exception, loudly praising Trump’s post, see below.)
Catholic News Agency reports: “According to Pew’s numbers, 126 members of the House and 24 Senators are Catholic. The majority of Catholics in both chambers are Democrats: 70 in the House and 13 in the Senate. There are 56 Catholic Republicans in the House and 11 in the Senate.”
Note: Three of the top five Republicans in the House are Catholic: Majority Leader Steve Scalise (Louisiana), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (Minnesota), and Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain (Michigan).
Seeing is believing! A picture is worth a thousand words….
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) May 3, 2025
Glad to report there is very positive reception and strong momentum for President Trump to be the next Pope. But I will be first to admit there has been some resistance!
Must keep your head down and plow forward —… https://t.co/nH76fD9yUR
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