Donald Trump has posted an AI-generated picture of himself wearing papal regalia on his Reality Social platform – simply 11 days after the dying of Pope Francis.
Uploaded onto his account early on Saturday morning, it reveals the US president with a big gold cross on a sequence round his neck.
From there, it was printed, with out remark or clarification, on the White Home X and Instagram accounts and, although it drew fierce criticism, it was appreciated greater than 100,000 occasions.
It comes just some days after the world chief joked that he’d prefer to be the pontiff.
Final week, he was requested by reporters on the White Home garden who he wish to succeed Francis and he replied: “I might prefer to be Pope. That might be my primary alternative.”
He went on to say that he didn’t have a choice, however there was a cardinal in New York who was “excellent”.
Mr Trump was shortly accused of mocking Pope Francis’s dying, however, by midday, UK time, the put up had been appreciated greater than 58,000 occasions on Instagram.
Consumer feedback, nevertheless, had been principally detrimental, with one saying that the picture “is not humorous. It isn’t satire. And it isn’t innocent”.
One other merely referred to as it “disgusting”, whereas different reactions included “disturbing”, “disrespectful” and “offensive”.
On X, the place the image was appreciated greater than 78,000 occasions, a consumer commented that Mr Trump was “making a mockery of the pious”, whereas one other judged it “not a smart choice”.
The conclave to select a new pontiff will start on 7 Could after the dying of Francis, the chief of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Argentinian, who turned pope in 2013, died on Easter Monday on the age of 88 because of a stroke and coronary heart failure.
Final weekend, the president was criticised for sporting a non-traditional blue swimsuit for Francis’s Vatican funeral and chewing gum through the ceremony.
Nevertheless, his assembly in St Peter’s Basilica with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier than the outside mass obtained beneath method was dubbed “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in St Peter’s Basilica. Pic: Ukrainian Presidential Press Workplace
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Mr Trump’s personal non secular views have lengthy been a matter of hypothesis.
He was raised as a Presbyterian and publicly recognized with it for many of his grownup life, earlier than, in October 2020, he renounced it and stated he now thought-about himself a non-denominational Christian.
Many have questioned the depth of his religion, however that hasn’t stopped him interesting to conservative Christians and the Christian proper, significantly evangelicals, a few of whom have helped him get elected twice.
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Earlier this 12 months, Mr Trump shared a bizarre AI-generated video on his Reality Social platform showcasing what seemed to be a imaginative and prescient of Gaza beneath his proposed plan.
The footage confirmed the world reworked right into a Center Japanese paradise with unique seashores, Dubai-style skyscrapers, luxurious yachts and folks partying – and featured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Elon Musk.
