This past Friday, Donald Trump shared an AI-generated photo of himself dressed as the Pope on Truth Social. The post was later retweeted by the official White House account on X. Shortly after, Elon Musk’s AI assistant Grok reposted an image of the tech billionaire also posing as the next pontiff.
The president’s post received mixed responses. Some Trump supporters, including Manoverse accounts like KD_Crypto responded with an AI-generated photo of Trump as a Roman emperor, applauded the post and argued that the only people who are offended are those who “worship the pope”, while another joked that “Trump will clean up the WASTE in the Vatican on DAY ONE.”
Others, such as X user Lepus, expressed that any world leader who posts a picture of himself as a religious leader shortly after his death is “neither funny, nor does it present statesmanship and respectful behavior.” The NYC Catholic Conference responded to the image on X, saying, “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.”
Still others, including X user Among the Wildflowers, sought to deny that Trump was even involved with the post, instead arguing that “whoever did it is intentionally undermining him with hopes to shatter his support base and discredit him.” She, along with others, pulled on plausible deniability that Trump never even saw the post, and that he holds Catholics in high respect.
The meme — now an Internet phenomenon influencing Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update this past Saturday and drawing ire from Catholic leaders over the weekend — is an interesting, controversial take from the president who joked that he should be the next pope. It was followed this past week by Lindsay Graham saying that Catholics should “keep an open mind” about the prospect of his papacy.
It’s an alarming twist of fate as just the week before, influencers created humurous skits trying to convince Trump not to “run” for pope, right as far-right users weaponized AI-generated images showing Elon Musk and Donald Trump in cardinal and pope regalia, using the technology as a tool of authoritarianism and growing conflation of far-right politics and religious movements, including Catholic nationalism, in the United States.
What Among the Wildflowers says is significant because it speaks to how Trump’s actions — including wearing a blue suit to the pope’s funeralwhen world leaders and other attendees were urged to wear dark colors — both appeal to MAGA Catholics and shake his devout Catholic base. Whether or not it was a joke, it plays into Catholic supporters of Trump, who are increasingly pulled into far-right political spheres.
What is fascinating, however, is what a close reading of the AI-generated image itself reveals: Trump holds his right finger up, signaling an interjection or interruption as opposed to two raised right fingers in the traditional sign of benediction.
Also, he appears dressed in a simple white cassock, more in the style of Pope Francis than Pope John Paul II or Benedict, who both preferred a more regal style that would align with Trump and would match the golden chair on which Trump sits in the image. And true to not being Catholic, Trump is wearing the wrong hat — a bishop’s mitre as opposed to a papal tiara.
More glaring, the cross Trump wears in the AI-generated image does not have a crucifix. If anything, it’s evidence that Trump is using AI both as a tool to troll while also influencing conversations about Catholic involvement in American politics, notably giving credence to far-right Catholic leaders who argue that Trump’s and Vance’s policies are in alignment with Catholicism, despite American bishops and the pope openly rebuking their immigration policies.
Trump has previously used AI as a political tool, arguably appealing to so-called Manoverse content creators and podcasters, far-right leaders, and influencers pushing for men’s rights and a traditional worldview increasingly aligned with traditional Catholicism. But this past Friday, Trump’s campaign pushed even further, fashioning himself as the leader of a church about to pick its new head.
Even as a joke, it adds fuel to the fire of MAGA Catholics and hints at a precipitating insurrection in the American Catholic Church. Just as Bill Kristol questioned Vance if he was okay with this “disrespect and mocking of the Holy Father,” many Catholics are asking Trump the same question and warning that even jests, including ones in the form of memes, can have incredibly real consequences.