Donald Trump became combative with reporters Monday afternoon after being asked about backlash from Catholics after he posted an AI generated image himself as the Pope.
He also tried to throw his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, under the bus for the incident, saying that she “thought it was cute.”
“Isn’t that nice?” Trump claimed his wife, who is Catholic, said when she saw the image.
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The president’s comments came as he sought to distance himself from the digitally altered image that he shared on his Truth Social account late Friday.
“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,” he claimed. “That’s not me that did it. I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI. I know nothing about it. I just saw it last evening.”
The president made the combative comments in response to a question from a Fox News reporter while he was speaking at the White House on Monday afternoon.
After Trump posted the AI image of himself wearing a white cassock and papal headdress, it was then shared by the official White House account on X.
“Some Catholics were not so happy about the image of you looking like the Pope,” White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich started her question on Monday, but she was cut off by the president before she could finish the full sentence.
The president claimed those who were not happy with it “can’t take a joke.”
“You don’t mean the Catholics. You mean the fake news media… the Catholics loved it,” he argued.
After Trump brought up the first lady, he also joked on Monday that if he were to be the Pope, he would not be married.
“Actually, I would not be able to be married though. That would be a lot,” Trump said. “To the best of my knowledge, Popes aren’t big on getting married, are they?”
Trump shared the image just days before the conclave is set to begin electing the successor to the late Pope Francis. Some Catholics found his social media post to be in poor taste.
Asked in a follow up question about the image going out on the White House account, the president responded “give me a break” and said someone did it in fun.
“You have to have a little fun, don’t you?” he said.
Trump posted the image just days after he and the first lady attended Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican and while the formal mourning period was still underway.
The first lady revealed that she was Catholic for the first time after meeting Pope Francis back in 2017.
While Trump said the image was posted in jest, it struck a nerve with some Catholics over the weekend.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, was asked whether he was offended by the image ahead of delivering Mass in Rome on Sunday. He responded “Well, it wasn’t good.” He then switched to Italian and said “brutta figura” which roughly means to make a fool of oneself.
The Catholic bishops of New York also slammed the president posting the image with a response 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,” they wrote.
