Trump downplays AI pope image: 'The Catholics loved it'

President Trump on Monday downplayed the criticism over an AI image of him as the pope that was shared by the White House ahead of the conclave to replace the late Pope Francis, saying that Catholics loved it.

The president was asked about Catholics disapproving of the image, such as New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who said the late Friday post “wasn’t good.”

“You mean they can’t take a joke. You don’t mean the Catholics, you mean the fake news media. Not the — the Catholics loved it,” Trump said.

He added, “I had nothing to do with it. Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the pope and they put it out on the internet. 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.”

The president said that he had just seen the image on Sunday night and that first lady Melania Trump liked it.

“Actually, my wife thought it was cute. She said, ‘Isn’t that nice?' Actually, 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?” he said.

He looked over at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who laughed along with the president. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser stood to the other side of Trump, appearing not to laugh. The two joined the president on Monday to announce that the 2027 NFL draft will take place in Washington, D.C.

A reporter asked the president if sharing the image on the official White House account on the social platform X diminishes the substance of that social media account.

“Give me a break. It was just, somebody did it in fun. It’s fine, have to have a little fun, don’t you?” he added.

The image was posted less than two weeks after Francis's death and just days before cardinals gather at the Vatican to elect a new Catholic leader. Trump and the first lady had attended the late pontiff's funeral in the Vatican.

Dolan, who also said that he hoped Trump “didn’t have anything to do with” the post, has been an ally of the president and said in December that Trump “takes his Christian faith seriously.”

Additionally, Bishop Thomas Paprocki, of Springfield, Ill., said the president should apologize.

“This is 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,” Paprocki wrote in a statement on X.

The New York State Catholic Conference said there is “nothing clever or funny” about the image.

Meanwhile, Vice President Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, defended the post as a joke.

“As a general rule, I’m fine with people telling jokes and not fine with people starting stupid wars that kill thousands of my countrymen,” Vance wrote on X in response to a scathing post from Bill Kristol, who served as chief of staff to the vice president in the George H.W. Bush administration.