Donald Trump might be in the running with God for most important entity in the minds of American Evangelicals, but he's still got quite a bit to learn about religion.
The president, who isn't above holding a Bible like a dead rat to goose his polling numbers, seemed genuinely taken aback that people reacted poorly to a post where he imagined himself as the new pope. Speaking to reporters on Monday, he said that Catholic leaders railing against Trump's post "can't take a joke" and accused "the fake news media" of lying about reactions from the church.
"The Catholics loved it," Trump asserted. "Give me a break!... It’s fine. Have to have a little fun, don’t you?"
Trump went on to wash his hands of the controversy, saying he had no part in the making or posting of the image.
“I had nothing to do with it,” Trump said. “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."
Reporter: Some Catholics are not happy about the image of you looking like the Pope
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 5, 2025
Trump: You mean they can’t take a joke? You mean the fake news. The Catholics loved it. I had nothing to do with it. Maybe it was AI. My wife thought it was cute. Ha ha
Reporter: It was put out… pic.twitter.com/eo80ACv6OQ
Trump has repeatedly joked that he should be the next pope since Pope Francis died last month. The mockup of himself in papal vestments crossed a line with many Catholic leaders in the United States and Rome, however. Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois told the Jesuit magazine America that Trump's post was "deeply offensive."
"Make no mistake: God is not mocked," he shared. "By publishing a picture of himself masquerading as the pope, President Trump mocks God, the Catholic Church, and the papacy."
Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan, a notably pro-Trump figure in the church, said that the president's post "wasn't good."
"As Italians say, it was brutta figura (embarrassing)," he told reporters in Rome.
