Vice President JD Vance defended Donald Trump posting an AI-generated photo of himself dressed as the pope.
Trump, who told reporters earlier this week that he’d like to be the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church following Pope Francis’ death, posted the image on his Truth Social account Friday.
It was later reposted by the official White House account.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, was asked by conservative commentator Bill Kristol if he is “fine with this disrespect and mocking of the Holy Father?”
“As a general rule, I’m fine with people telling jokes and not fine with people starting stupid wars that kill thousands of my countrymen,” Vance responded.
While Vance is willing to dismiss Trump’s post as a joke, others expressed their disapproval.
“There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President. We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St. Peter. Do not mock us,” the Catholic Bishops of New York State wrote in a post on X.
“As a Catholic, I take great offense to Donald Trump mocking Catholics,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) wrote on X.
“I wish Trump would focus on lowering prices instead. The American economy had negative GDP growth last quarter. That’s what he should be focused on instead of making fun of Catholics,” he added.
