President Donald Trump shrugged off criticisms of an AI-generated image showing him as the pope, saying first that the image had prompted far more negative reactions from media than from Catholics and then adding, “My wife thought it was cute.”
Trump responded on Monday to a question from Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, who suggested that the backlash was primarily coming from Catholics.
“Some Catholics were not so happy about the image of you looking like the pope,” she said.
WATCH:
President Donald Trump was asked by Fox News’ @JacquiHeinrich about the viral AI-generated image of him as the Pope that was posted on the official White House account.
HEINRICH: “Some Catholics were not so happy about the image of you looking like the Pope…”
TRUMP: “Oh, I… pic.twitter.com/rvwelwIzOC
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 5, 2025
“Oh, I see. You mean they can’t take a joke,” Trump replied. “You don’t mean the Catholics, you mean the Fake News Media. The Catholics loved it.”
Heinrich pushed back, but Trump kept going, saying, “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.”
“I just saw it last evening. Actually, my wife thought it was cute. She said, ‘Isn’t that nice?'” Trump continued, adding, “Actually, I would not be able to be married, though. That would be a lot. To the best of my knowledge, popes aren’t getting married, are they? Not that we know of, no.”
Several people in the room laughed, and Trump concluded, “I think it’s the fake news media that — they’re fakers.”
Heinrich kept at it, asking Trump whether he felt it “diminished the White House account” to have posted such a picture.
“Give me a break,” was Trump’s reply. “It was just — somebody did it in fun. It’s fine.”
Vice President JD Vance, who is a practicing Catholic, responded to the picture when prompted by Bill Kristol.
“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,” he said.
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. https://t.co/2WQPsofVIH
— JD Vance (@JDVance) May 3, 2025
Vance was also among those who joked — after Secretary of State Marco Rubio was temporarily asked to take over the responsibilities of exiting National Security Adviser Mike Waltz — that Rubio could take on one more job open only to a “devout Catholic …”
I think he could take on a bit more.
If only there was a job opening for a devout Catholic… https://t.co/CbOZNZ1e5o
— JD Vance (@JDVance) May 1, 2025
