Donald Trump posted an AI-generated photograph of himself seemingly dressed as Jesus Christ shortly after slamming Pope Leo XIV as “weak.”
On Sunday evening, Trump posted a tirade on Truth Social about Pope Leo — the primary American to be chosen for the place — who has been vocally against the battle in Iran in addition to the president’s immigration coverage. “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and horrible for Overseas Coverage … I don’t desire a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote. “I don’t desire a Pope who thinks it’s horrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Nation that was sending huge quantities of Medication into the USA and, even worse, emptying their prisons, together with murderers, drug sellers, and killers, into our Nation. And I don’t desire a Pope who criticizes the President of the USA as a result of I’m doing precisely what I used to be elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Document Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Best Inventory Market in Historical past.”
Trump continued that to assert that Pope Leo “was solely put there by the Church as a result of he was an American, they usually thought that will be one of the simplest ways to cope with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t within the White Home, Leo wouldn’t be within the Vatican.”
Trump’s feedback happened an hour after a “60 Minutes” section aired on the Pope and U.S. cardinal’s opposition towards the battle in Iran and Trump’s immigration insurance policies. The Pope additionally made headlines final week when he denounced Trump’s menace to Iran that “a complete civilization will die tonight,” calling it “actually unacceptable.” He then referred to as on folks “to contact the authorities, political leaders, congressmen — to ask them, inform them, to work for peace and to reject battle all the time.”
Trump then posted an apparently AI-generated photograph of himself seemingly dressed as Jesus, therapeutic a sick man as docs and members of the army watch in delight.
Screenshot courtesy Fact Social/@realdonaldtrump
His feedback on Leo in addition to the photograph of himself in Christ’s likeness drew rapid criticism from outstanding members of the Catholic Church. “Not even Hitler or Mussolini attacked the Pope so instantly and publicly,” Massimo Faggioli, an skilled on the papacy, mentioned in a statement to Reuters.
On Monday morning, Pope Leo responded to Trump’s feedback in a press release to the Associated Press. “To place my message on the identical airplane as what the president has tried to do right here, I believe shouldn’t be understanding what the message of the Gospel is,” he mentioned. “And I’m sorry to listen to that however I’ll proceed on what I consider is the mission of the church on this planet right this moment.”
Pope Leo added: “I can’t enter into debate. The issues that I say are actually not meant as assaults on anybody. The message of the Gospel could be very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ I can’t draw back from saying the message of the Gospel and welcoming all folks to search for methods of constructing bridges of peace and reconciliation, and in search of methods to keep away from battle any time that’s potential.”
