New York’s Catholic bishops, led by a favorite cardinal of Donald Trump, sharply rebuked the president for posting an AI-generated image of himself as pope.
“There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President,” the New York Catholic Conference of Bishops wrote in a post on X Saturday. “We just buried our beloved Pope Francis, and the cardinals are about to hold a solemn conclave to elect a new successor to St. Peter. “Do not mock us.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a Daily Beast request for comment on the bishops’ statement.
Trump, a non-Catholic, shared an AI-generated image of himself in papal white robes and a gilded mitre on Truth Social on Friday. The White House’s official X account later shared the post.
When asked earlier this week who should succeed the late Pope Francis, who died last month, Trump joked that it should be him. He later speculated that it could be New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
“I must say, we have a cardinal who happens to be from New York and is very good, so we will see what happens,” he told reporters earlier this week.
Dolan is the president of the New York Conference of Bishops, which condemned Trump for the post. The 75-year-old cardinal has long been a supporter of Trump.
Dolan offered a prayer at both of Trump’s presidential inaugurations. In 2020, Trump referred to Dolan as “a great friend of mine,” to which the cardinal replied that the feelings were “mutual.”
Earlier this year, Dolan praised Trump as someone who “takes his Christian faith seriously.”
The Archdiocese of New York, the state bishops’ conference, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s requests for comment.
Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday at the age of 88 due to a stroke, was a harsh critic of Trump, particularly his mass-deportation policies.
Trump and his wife Melania sat in the front row for Francis’ funeral, where the homily appeared to reference Francis’ disapproval of the president.
Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, met with Francis at the Vatican the day before his death.
Bill Kristol, a political commentator who served as an aide to former President George H.W. Bush, asked Vance on social media Saturday if he was “fine with this disrespect and mocking of the Holy Father”.
The VP defended Trump’s post while criticizing Kristol’s neoconservatism, writing, “As a general rule, I am fine with people telling jokes, but not with people starting stupid wars that kill thousands of my countrymen.”
Many social media commentators have criticized Trump’s post, calling it offensive to Catholics.
Michael Steele, an MSNBC pundit who previously led the Republican National Committee, stated that the post “affirms how unserious and incapable [Trump] is.”
“At 78, he remains a 10yo child, emotionally scarred and broken while desperate to prove he could be somebody,” according to Steele. “His problem: he can not grow up to prove it.”
Morgan J. Freeman, a producer who has worked on films like Desert Blue and Hurricane Streets, was similarly critical of the president.
“This post is a massive insult to Catholics, Pope Francis’ family, friends & devotees, and to the present conclave,” according to him.