Donald Trump posted an AI-generated photo of himself dressed as Jesus Christ shortly after calling Pope Leo XIV “weak.”
Trump made a scathing post on Sunday night true social About Pope Leo – the first American elected to the post – who has been a vocal opponent of the war in Iran as well as the president’s immigration policy. Trump wrote, “Pope Leo is weak on crime and terrible at foreign policy… I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have nuclear weapons.” “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that the United States invaded Venezuela, a country that was shipping massive amounts of drugs into the United States and, worse, was emptying our country of murderers, drug dealers, and murderers, including their prisons. And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, in a landslide, to do, setting record low numbers in crime, and Creating the largest stock market in history.”
Trump continued to claim that Pope Leo “was put there by the Church only because he was an American, and they thought it would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
Trump’s comments came about an hour after a “60 Minutes” segment aired on the Pope’s and U.S. cardinals’ protests against the war in Iran and Trump’s immigration policies. The Pope also made headlines last week when he condemned Trump’s threat to Iran that “an entire civilization will die tonight”, calling it “truly unacceptable”. He then called on people to “contact officials, political leaders, congressmen – ask them, tell them, work for peace and always reject war.”
Trump then posted an apparently AI-generated photo in which he is seen dressed as Jesus healing a sick man while doctors and members of the military proudly watch.
Screenshot courtesy Truth Social/@realdonaldtrump
His comments on Leo, as well as his depiction of Christ as Christ, were immediately criticized by leading members of the Catholic Church. Massimo Fagioli, an expert on the papacy, said in an interview, “Not even Hitler or Mussolini attacked the Pope so directly and publicly.” statement to reuters.
Pope Leo responded to Trump’s comments in a statement Monday morning associated Press. He said, “To put my message on the same level as what the President has attempted to do here, I think is failing to understand what the message of the gospel is.” “And I’m sad to hear that but I will stick to what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.”
Pope Leo said: “I will not get into debate. The things I say are certainly not meant as an attack on anyone. The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ I will not shy away from proclaiming the message of the gospel and inviting all people to seek ways to build bridges of peace and reconciliation, and to seek ways to avoid war whenever possible.
