By Molly Goddard
2:18pm PDT, May 6, 2025
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Karl Rove is revolted by
Donald Trump sharing a photo of himself as the pope.
During a Sunday, May 4, appearance on Fox News, the right-wing political consultant slammed the current president for sharing an AI-generated image portraying himself as the religious leader and declaring that he should assume the role next.
Keep reading to see what Rove said about Trump's social media activity…
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"We elected him for a variety of reasons that were important: inflation, the border, DEI, the military, respect for America — things like, you know, just tweeting out a picture of you as the Pope," Karl Rove told journalist
Trey Gowdy of Donald Trump. "It's deeply
offensive to a great many people," he added.
Trump fired back on Truth Social after the interview aired, writing, "I don't need to have Karl Rove of Fox News to tell me what to do. The guy's a total loser who's been wrong about almost everything!"
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Donald Trump's usually close ally
Bill O'Reilly also slammed the pope photo: "That was just dopey," the Republican media personality told NewsNation's
Leland Vittert on the Monday, May 5, episode of
On Balance. "There was no excuse for that. The guy just died, you know?"
"He thought it was funny," O'Reilly added of Trump. "Some people do think it's funny, but he's the president. I would've advised against it had I been consulted, which I was not. I didn't think it was smart because it offended a lot of elderly Catholics who voted for him."
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The New York State Catholic Conference came out against the doctored image of Donald Trump following
the passing of Pope Francis last month.
"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," they said in a statement. "Do not mock us."
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After Donald Trump tweeted the offensive image, Republican senator
Lindsey Graham supported the idea of the former star of
The Apprentice becoming the next pope.
"I was excited to hear that President Trump is open to the idea of being the next Pope," the politician from South Carolina wrote on X on Tuesday, April 29. "This would truly be a dark horse candidate, but I would ask the papal conclave and Catholic faithful to keep an open mind about this possibility. The first Pope-U.S. President combination has many upsides. Watching for white smoke. Trump MMXXVIII!"
