Trump Calls the Pope "Weak on Crime" before Posing as the Messiah
No, really. He actually did.
It’s not every day that the President of the United States and His Holiness the Bishop of Rome start giving Taylor Swift/Katy Perry–circa–2017 energy, but apparently today is that day. And no, I am not making this up.
If we’re playing “he-started-it,” I suppose an ironic finger would be pointing at Pope Leo XIV, who held a weekend vigil calling for peace. In the quick four-minute address, the pontiff denounced the relentless pursuit of power and money, war in general, and what he called “the delusion of omnipotence.” It was run-of-the-mill papal stuff; precisely what you’d expect from the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church and the planet’s premier peacekeeper during a period of intense geopolitical conflict.
And yet.
Trump apparently took that delusion of omnipotence bit personally, responding in a way only a man with an ego that requires its own airspace could: with a lengthy Truth Social post in which he accused the Pope of being—among other things—weak on crime. But, you know, with more ALL CAPS emphasis.
Yes, Trump openly suggested that the Primate of Italy—a man whose entire job description is “encourage folks to be more like Jesus”—needs to up his perp-wrangling game. And “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela”? Really? We are not living in medieval times. These are not the Crusades. The Pope, by the very nature of his position, is sort of obligated to condemn anyone attacking anyone else. That’s not Advanced Theoretical Theology; it’s more like Gospel 101.
Which also raises what I think is a fair question: what exactly was the expectation here? Was Trump waiting for Leo to ring him up with a congratulatory, “Great job with that ‘open-the-effing-strait’ business! ‘I’m gonna bomb the blank out of them’ was also divinely inspired. You’re doing the Lord’s work, Sir,”?
In POTUS’s mind, there seems to be no required separation of church and state. Even if you are the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, talking about peace means you are automatically “weak on crime.” Criticizing war rhetoric makes you “terrible for foreign policy.” And if you say anything that could be construed as a personal attack, you’re clearly batting for the “Radical Left.”
This, of course, is because Trump looks at everyone and everything through the same lens: you’re either with him—and I’m talking one hundred percent all-in—or you’re against him. Loyal ally or arch-enemy. Chosen member of the inner circle or Mentally Disabled Low-IQ TOTAL LOSER who should really see a Good Psychiatrist. And apparently, that includes Vatican City’s tippy-top dog—a man who, according to Donald Trump, wouldn’t even have the keys to the Popemobile if it weren’t for him!
“Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise,” Trump wrote, in case you missed that part. “He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that 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.”
Humble, it was not.
Pope Leo responded to the irreverent post by saying he has “no fear of the Trump administration” and vowed to continue to push for world peace. As one might expect.
And just in case the “weak on crime” critique didn’t fully land, Trump followed it up by posting an AI-generated image of himself cosplaying, well, the Son of God. The digital artwork showed Trump performing what appeared to be a hands-on healing, surrounded by adoring followers, the American flag, a bald eagle, the U.S. Capitol, some soldiers, a Top Gun-style fighter jet flyover, the Lincoln Memorial (or possibly the Pantheon), the Statue of Liberty, and—of course—fireworks.
What was the prompt here? “Generate a photo of a ruggedly handsome Trump healing a man Jesus-style and include every single symbol of America you can think of plus an old-timey nurse and lots of random fingers. Make it extra biblical… and don’t forget the pyrotechnics!”
Honestly, the only things missing were a Red Sox jersey and Kid Rock.
When a massive chunk of the mediasphere imploded over the “offensive and blasphemous image,” alert netizens were quick to point out that the post was originally made by special envoy Nick Adams, who posted it over two months ago with the caption “America has been sick for a long time. President Trump is healing this nation.”
POTUS, on the other hand, decided to play dumb. “I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross, which we support… and only the fake news could come up with that one,” he told reporters outside of the Oval Office yesterday (a move the media was quick to mock). Nevertheless, he quietly deleted the post shortly thereafter.
Trump is no stranger to AI-blending his likeness with legendary figures, of course. He’s been a king, a superhero, a Star Wars Jedi, and—in what appears to be his first foray into computer generated sacrilege—Pope Donald I. Would anyone actually be surprised if he did intentionally take it all the way to the top of the holiness pyramid?
The gamut of responses ranged—predictably—from unhinged rage to “who edited the original image to add Satanic symbolism?” to OMG, lighten up, Francis.
If I were giving out Comment of the Day awards, the tallest trophy would go to this dude:
At some point, you have to admire the efficiency of it all. The Holy Father gives a four-minute speech about harmony, and within 48 hours we’re arguing about whether the President of the United States meant to portray himself as the actual Prince of Peace while simultaneously grading the Pope’s crimefighting record.
Is it just me, or is the simulation getting crazier by the day?
It was dumb. It was funny. It was all the things. But the funniest thing was watching the media meltdown. Now substitute Obama for Trump in that pic and watch the reaction…!
And for all of the trolls out trolling today, Jeff Childers covered this yesterday. So, not dumb. Newsworthy. Silly. But newsworthy.
And to all of Jenna’s fans who don’t like the trolls, pop over to their profiles and BLOCK THEM. No need to ruin a perfectly good morning with their nonsense 😉. Reasonable debate? Good. Just plain meanness for the sake of being mean? Not so much.
I’d have more sympathy for those who find this the worst thing in the universe if this Pope wasn’t so transparent in his distaste for all things Trump. I’m not aware of any public condemnation of the massacre of Christians in Africa, Boka Haram, white farmer genocide in South Africa, the mass slaughter of protesters in Iran, female genital mutilation still occurring in Muslim countries as we speak, etc ad nauseum. Gee, maybe I missed it. By all means, the Pope should call for world peace, and is right to do so. I just question why he’s not equally concerned about it unless the focus is on Trump/the US.