Former U.S. President Donald Trump has once again stirred controversy online after sharing an AI-generated image of himself dressed in full papal regalia on his Truth Social platform.
The digitally altered image, posted Friday night, depicts Trump styled as the Pope, shortly after the funeral of Pope Francis, who reportedly passed away in April due to a stroke and heart failure. Trump attended the funeral along with other world leaders.
While some of his supporters described the image as humorous or symbolic, the post ignited a wave of backlash from religious groups and social media users, many of whom considered the timing and symbolism offensive and insensitive.
“This is disgusting and entirely offensive,” one commenter wrote.
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Another added, “This is disrespectful to the church and God himself… he’s literally the antichrist.”
Outrage continued with others accusing Trump of mocking the Catholic Church’s sacred traditions. “How dare you mock the process we Catholics go through to pick a new pope,” one user said on X (formerly Twitter). Another wrote, “Extremely disrespectful and narcissistic. Republicans really voted for that.”
The controversy comes just days before the Vatican’s scheduled conclave on May 7, where cardinals will gather to elect a new Pope following Francis’ passing.
This incident adds to Trump’s long history of provocative social media activity, and while it has energized parts of his political base, it has also drawn condemnation from critics who say such behavior undermines respect for global religious institutions.
Crediblenewsng.com
