Back in February, Donald Trump shared a video on Truth Social that, among other things, depicted a giant golden idol of Trump standing tall in the Holy Land, presumably to show how great Gaza would be after America finished turning it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
And now, even as the cardinals are meeting to elect a new Bishop of Rome following Pope Francis’ death, Trump has shared an AI-generated image of himself as the pope, his right hand raised in a semblance of blessing. He posted it after joking that he’d like to be pope (“That would be my number one choice,” he said), a joke echoed by Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s chief sycophants, as well as the White House.
The MAGA defense of posts like these — which some might call disrespectful or even blasphemous — is that he’s just kidding around. This has been a constant refrain during Trump’s political career, that he doesn’t really mean all of the terrible, hateful, and crude things he says. He’s just joking around and/or saying what everyone else is thinking but is too afraid to say out loud, and anyone who’s bothered by his boastful, self-aggrandizing statements and memes needs to lighten up and stop being such a liberal snowflake.
Which raises an obvious question: How would MAGA folks respond if Joe Biden or Barack Obama posted images of themselves as the pope? Would they think it’s a joke then, as well? Or would they find it disrespectful and blasphemous? I think we all know the answer, but I digress…
What these images do, aside from eliciting chuckles from MAGA and groans from everyone else, is offer some crystal clear insight into Trump’s psyche. As my friend Steven D. Greydanus posted on Facebook, “nothing is sacred to Trump but Trump. Nothing. Trump is all in all. St. Paul said of some men that their god is their belly; for Trump, his ego is God.” Trump ultimately makes Pope Francis’ death about himself, because a narcissist demands that everything be about them.
Trump sharing these images also helps clarify his relationship with Christianity. It’s no secret that American Christians, by and large, continue to align themselves with Trump. A recent Pew survey found that, while only 40% of US adults approve of the job Trump’s done since assuming office, he enjoys a 72% approval rating among white evangelical Christians. But I suspect that’s less because of Trump’s own religious faith and devotion and more because he’s very good at telling white evangelical Christians what they want to hear. As Michael DeLashmutt writes:
Trump’s engagement with Christianity has consistently been pragmatic rather than devotional. This relationship was seen again on Thursday (May 1), when, in the company of key representatives of his religious-political base, he established a religious liberty commission by promising to rid the country of “anti-Christian bias.”
Trump has embraced Christian symbolism in his use of the Bible, cultivated the support of religious leaders and invoked faith at political rallies. But at each new turn it’s clear that Christianity is not something to be inhabited or challenged by, but a tool to be used.
That brings me to what is perhaps most disturbing about these images. As far as I’ve been able to tell, they’ve received no significant pushback or criticism from Trump’s Christian supporters, which include some of America’s most popular religious leaders. This reveals something disturbing about the state of American Christianity, and in particular, the white, conservative, evangelical variety that has wedded itself to Trump’s politics.
When our nation’s leader promotes himself as a revered religious figure or golden idol, that should concern anyone who claims to follow Christ. (Not to mention anyone who cares about the separation of church and state.) Far from being mere jokes or memes, such images suggest that Trump, who flaunts an opulent lifestyle, praises dictators, and encourages violence, cares not one whit about their religious significance and implications. (A golden idol placed in the Holy Land? Really?) Rather, he posts them because the images communicate worldly power and wealth — things that Trump obviously loves but are criticized throughout the Bible.
But so long as Trump keeps saying the right words and doing the right things (e.g., promising to eradicate “anti-Christian bias”), then many Christians seem perfectly fine with overlooking his obsession with power and ego — an obsession that’s painfully obvious to anyone who chooses to open their eyes and see it for what it truly is, especially when he broadcasts it to the world on social media.
Update #1 (May 4): Of course, as soon as I posted this, I discovered that Steven D. Greydanus, who’s a devout Catholic (and one of my favorite film critics), had already written a very thoughtful post about the “Pope Trump” image and what it reveals about Trump’s way of seeing the world:
In a word, I think such remarks from Trump are best understood as a bid. He bids on literally anything that takes his fancy, however unrealistic it might seem. If nothing else, it’s a way of asserting his ego into every arena, of making every story a story about him. Not unlike a pick-up artist who accepts repeated failure as the cost for maximizing success, Trump is okay making bids that fail, especially if he can play them off as “jokes.”
And more importantly, why the “Pope Trump” image is so offensive to Catholics and others mourning Pope Francis’ death:
[I]t should be as obvious as day following night that, while some people (particularly Trump fans who weren’t crazy about Pope Francis) may find the Pope Trump meme funny, very many other people will find it offensive and hurtful at a time of grief and mourning. A month ago I would have found the Pope Trump meme in poor taste but unremarkable. At the present moment, Trump, Graham, and their enablers are trampling on the grief of countless Catholics and non-Catholics, trolling the grieving at a time of mourning, which is a special form of contempt for one’s fellow humans.
I’ve always appreciated and been inspired by Greydanus’ calm, rational, and winsome writing, be it on politics, religion, or film, and his “Pope Trump” post is more of the same.
Update #2 (May 6): Not surprisingly, Catholics have criticized the “Pope Trump” image. Also not surprising is Trump’s dismissal of the controversy and claims of ignorance:
I had nothing to do with it. Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the pope and they put it out on the internet. That’s not me that did it, I have no idea where it came from, maybe it was AI, but I know nothing about it, I just saw it last evening.
Once again, Trump wants us to pretend we don’t see that which we all see.