President Donald Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated image of himself dressed as pope as the mourning of Pope Francis continues and just days before the conclave to elect his successor is set to begin.

Vice President JD Vance defended President Trump for sharing a photo of himself as the pope, writing in a Saturday social media post he's "fine with people telling jokes." The big picture: While Vance, a Catholic, brushed off the seemingly AI-generated photo of the president in papal vestments, others condemned the controversial image.

Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, late on Friday, May 2, to share an image of himself in the traditional papal clothing. The official White House social media account later reposted the image on X. The image garnered a mixed response, with one critic saying it was " rather offensive for Catholics."