“Saturday Night Live” wasted no time skewering an AI-generated image of Donald Trump dressed as the pope that was shared by the White House and the president.
In the segment “weekend updates,” SNL star Colin Jost mocked the image, which depicted the president wearing ornate white papal robes, saying Trump was apparently “ordering a one-way ticket to hell.”
Jost added, “Who posts a photo of themselves dressed like a guy who died a week ago?”
Trump attended Pope Francis’ funeral, the 266th head of the Roman Catholic Church, on April 26. On Saturday, Trump and the White House posted an AI-generated image to Instagram.
Jost also took a swipe at Vice President JD Vance, a catholic convert, saying if Trump seriously wants to be the pope, “he should stay away from JD Vance.” Vance met Pope Francis the day before his death.
Jost jokingly added that Trump must have walked past the open casket and thought, “Oh, we should do a ‘who wore it best?'”
The comedian ended by condemning the picture, saying, “Trump’s photo just feels slightly disrespectful.”
On Tuesday, on Tuesday, Trump was asked by reporters if he had anyone in mind to be the next pope, to which he jokingly responded: “I’d like to be pope; that would be my number one choice.”
SNL wasn’t alone in taking aim at Trump’s AI image. The New York State Catholic Conference condemned the post on X: “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 group added.
Conservative commentator Bill Kristol, and former chief of staff to the vice president during the Bush administration, asked Vance on X if he was “fine with this disrespect and mocking of the Holy Father?”
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Vance hit back, replying to the post, “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.”
Elmo turned over to ICE
SNL continued its satire during its “cold-open” segment, referring to Trump’s 100 days in office.
Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, bragged that “it’s been 100 since I’ve been president” and signed around 147 executive orders, from “banning paper straws to defunding PBS.”
Johnson joked that Elmo, a character from “The Muppets,” had been handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement because “L stands for El Salvador.”
He also joked, “Recession will now be called ‘recess.’ Fun, right?… America, get ready for a historically long recess!”
The White House did not immediately respond to a Business Insider request for comment.
