US Cardinal Timothy Dolan said yesterday that President Donald Trump’s posting of an AI-generated photo showing himself as the pope ‘wasn’t good’ but declined to say whether the White House should apologise to offended Catholics.
Dolan, the archbishop of New York, was asked about the post on the sidelines of a Mass he celebrated at a Rome church ahead Wednesday’s start of a conclave where he and other cardinals under the age of 80 will elect a successor to Pope Francis.
Trump, who is not a Catholic and does not attend church regularly, posted the image on his Truth Social platform late on Friday, less than a week after attending the funeral of Pope Francis, who died at 88 last month.
The White House then reposted it on its official X account.
Trump last week joked with reporters that he would like to be the next pope. The AI image posted on Friday shows an unsmiling Trump seated in an ornate chair, dressed in white papal vestments and headdress, with his right forefinger raised.
The irreverent posting drew instant outrage on social media.
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