Trump calls AI pope image a joke, but experts say it's no laughing matter
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed the backlash against an artificial intelligence-generated image of him as the pope posted by the White House on social media, saying it was a harmless joke, but communications experts said they did not see the funny side.
The weekend AI-generated posts of Trump dressed in white papal vestments and another of him wielding one of the red light sabers preferred by villains in the "Star Wars" movies appeared typical of the provocation the president employs to energize supporters and troll critics.
Since returning to office on Jan. 20, Trump has dominated news cycles. In an otherwise relatively quiet weekend, the two images ensured Trump stayed a major topic of conversation on social media and beyond.
Throughout his political career, Trump has embraced bold visuals, from posing in a garbage truck to standing outside a church during protests against police brutality. But the experts said that unlike those rooted in reality, AI images blur fact and fiction in ways that can mislead.
"I think we are seeing a new phenomenon — the merging of social media and AI power, organized for political power and narrative dominance,' said John Wihbey, director of the AI-Media Strategies Lab at Northeastern University in Boston.
"He's exploiting this uncharted territory,' Wihbey said. "I suspect politicians around the world will begin to use generative AI and social together in newfound ways.'
Trump told reporters on Monday that the pope image was posted as a joke on his Truth Social account, which was then reposted by the White House across social media.
"I had nothing to do with it,' Trump said. "It was just, somebody did it in fun. It's fine. Have to have a little fun don't you?'
The White House did not respond to questions about who other than Trump posts to his Truth Social account and who created the two memes.
For many Catholics in the United States, Italy and elsewhere, the image of Trump dressed as God's representative on Earth was offensive.
Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi wrote on X, "This is an image that offends believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the global right enjoys being a clown."
Democratic strategist Michael Ceraso viewed the White House's posting of the AI images as a deliberate attempt to generate buzz.
"He's the first influencer president," Ceraso said of Trump, urging Democrats not to get caught up in whipped-up controversies.
Trump, he said, takes his cues from professional wrestling: "You can be the bad guy or the good guy as long as you are getting crowd reaction."
Since becoming president, Trump has posted AI-generated images of a beachfront resort in war-ravaged Gaza and of himself as a king and as an Al Capone-type gangster.
Jennifer Mercieca, a presidential rhetoric scholar at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, argued Trump was seeking to project images of strength at a time when his presidential approval rating is dropping.
"Trump's policies are unpopular, and his presidency is unpopular," Mercieca said. "Within this context, Trump has created a visual fantasy of himself as a hero, attempting to persuade the nation (and the world) that he is, in fact, a hero.'
The most recent Reuters/Ipsos polling had Trump's approval rating at 42% with 53% of respondents disapproving of him and showed concerns mounting among Americans over his economic and immigration policies. He peaked at 47% in the first days of his presidency.
Northeastern University's Wihbey said a greater test of AI's ability to warp political reality will come if Trump attempts to insert himself into more "photo-realistic' images that suggest historical events and scenes that did not occur.
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