Regarding Donald Trump’s now-famous AI graphic that portrayed him as the Pope, JD Vance has spoken out. One of the final foreign leaders to meet with Pope Francis before to his passing on Easter Monday, the vice president, a Catholic, declared that he was “fine with people telling jokes.”
The image has drawn criticism from both domestic and foreign quarters, including the Catholic bishops of New York State and former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. It shows an unsmiling Trump sitting on a fancy chair, wearing white papal garb and a headpiece, and holding out his right forefinger.
Vance was pulled into the debate on Saturday.
“Hey, @JDVance, do you approve of this disdain and derision of the Holy Father?” Bill Kristol, a conservative commentator, wrote on X.
In response, Vance said, “I generally don’t mind people making jokes, but I don’t like people starting pointless wars that kill thousands of my countrymen.” Kristol supported the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, which the vice president seemed to be alluding to. Others were less at ease with the picture.
During a press briefing on the impending conclave, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni declined to comment on the picture.
Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi commented on X, “This is an image that offends believers, insults institutions, and shows that the leader of the global right enjoys being a clown.” “In the meantime, the dollar depreciates and the US economy faces the possibility of a recession.” “There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President,” the Catholic bishops of New York state wrote in their own post on X, expressing their disapproval as well.
“We recently laid to rest Pope Francis, and the cardinals will soon convene in a solemn conclave to choose St. Peter’s successor. Don’t make fun of us.
A papal conclave to select Francis’ successor is scheduled to start on May 7 after his death was confirmed on April 21.
Trump joked that he would be his personal first choice to become pope before sharing the contentious photo, saying that Cardinal Timothy Dolan was a “very good” candidate in New York. Not on the short list of potential candidates for the top position is Dolan, the archbishop of New York. Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, is another American, nevertheless. The United States has never produced a pope.