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WASHINGTON (OSV News) — President Donald Trump on May 5 dismissed criticism from Catholic leaders and commentators after an image that appeared to be created by artificial intelligence depicting himself as pope was posted to the White House’s social media account.
At an event in the Oval Office announcing that Washington will host the 2027 NFL Draft, Trump was asked about the controversy sparked by the image, after some church officials and commentators criticized the image as insulting to Catholics, while some argued it was made in jest.
Asked by Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich for his response to Catholics who were “not happy” about the image, Trump replied, “You mean they can’t take a joke.”
“You don’t mean the Catholics, you mean the fake news media,” Trump said. “The Catholics loved it.”
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, both recently named to a White House religious liberty commission by Trump, were among the U.S. bishops who made critical comments about the image.
Some of the strongest remarks came from Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, who said Trump should apologize for the image, which he called “deeply offensive to Catholics especially during this sacred time that we are still mourning the death of Pope Francis and praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit for the election of our new Pope.”
Heinrich pressed Trump about Cardinal Dolan’s remarks about the post, but in his comments, Trump said, “I had nothing to do with it.” He suggested someone else made and posted the image to his accounts, as well as that of the White House.
“Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the pope, and they put it out on the internet,” Trump said. “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.”
Trump added that first lady Melania Trump “thought it was cute.” But then Trump mused that if he were the pope, “I would not be able to be married, though — that would be a lot.”
“To the best of my knowledge, popes aren’t big on getting married, are they? Not that we know of,” he said, adding again he thought it was the “fake news media” that was offended.
Heinrich asked Trump whether it would “diminish the substance” of White House communications to post such images, and the president replied, “Give me a break.”
“It was just — somebody did it in fun,” Trump said. “It’s fine. Have to have a little fun, don’t you?”
Some Catholics, including Vice President JD Vance and CatholicVote, a right-leaning political advocacy organization that endorsed Trump’s presidential bid, defended the image.
However, Cardinal Dolan, in a video posted May 4 on the social media platform X by The Good Newsroom, the digital news outlet of the Archdiocese of New York, said, “I hope he didn’t have anything to do with that” in response to a question about Trump’s post.
Asked if he was offended by the post, Cardinal Dolan replied, “Well, you know, it wasn’t good.”
In an interview with EWTN’s Colm Flynn, Bishop Barron argued the image was “a bad joke.”
“I think it was kind of a sophomoric attempt at humor,” Bishop Barron said.
He further argued that “I don’t think at all it represents some disdain for the Catholic Church, or some attack on the Catholic Church.” Bishop Barron added he thinks Trump “has signaled, in all sorts of ways, his support for and affection for the Catholic Church.”
“I think it was a, it was a bad joke that obviously landed very poorly and was seen as offensive by a lot of Catholics,” Bishop Barron said. “And I wish he hadn’t done it.”
Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
