Trump Posts an Picture of Himself as Pope

President Trump on Tuesday had a prepared reply when reporters requested who he want to see turn into the following supreme pontiff. “I’d wish to be pope,” he joked to reporters on the White Home. “That might be my primary alternative.”

He took the joke a step additional on Saturday, sharing on social media what gave the impression to be an A.I.-generated photograph of himself carrying the standard vestments of the pope. The photograph depicts him in a white cassock with a cross round his neck, his face solemn as he raises a pointed finger.

The origins of the photograph weren’t instantly clear, and Mr. Trump didn’t embrace any commentary in his put up. He shared the picture on Reality Social, Instagram and X, and the White Home reposted it on its official Instagram and X accounts.

The thought of “Pope Trump,” as some individuals referred to as it, was instantly polarizing. Some spiritual individuals, together with Catholics, didn’t see the humor in it, calling the photograph offensive, at a time when tens of millions of individuals have been nonetheless mourning Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday. A number of commenters on Reality Social, which is run by an organization managed by Mr. Trump, referred to as the put up sacrilegious and mentioned it fueled misinformation.

Michael Steele, a former chair of the Republican Nationwide Committee, mentioned posting the photograph throughout a interval of mourning was proof that Mr. Trump was “unserious and incapable.”

Dennis Poust, govt director of the New York State Catholic Convention, the general public coverage arm for the state’s Catholic bishops, mentioned the put up was stunning and “disrespectful,” and got here at a very uncooked second.