While Vance, a Catholic, brushed off the seemingly AI-generated photo of the president in papal vestments, others condemned the controversial image. "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," wrote Vance in response to a question from commentator Bill Kristol on whether he was "fine with this disrespect and mocking of the Holy Father." The president shared the head-turning image on his Truth Social Friday night after telling reporters earlier in the week that he would "like to be pope." The official White House account reposted the image on X. Driving the news: The New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the state's bishops, rebuked the post in a Saturday post shared to X, saying, "There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President."

Vice President Vance defended President Trump from criticism regarding his Friday Truth Social post portraying himself as a pontiff days after the death of Pope Francis. “Hey, @JDVance, you fine with this disrespect and mocking of the Holy Father?” Bill Kristol, who served as chief of staff to the vice president in the Bush administration, wrote in a Saturday post on the social media platform X. “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,” Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, wrote in a response to Kristol, who was an advocate for the 2003 Iraq invasion. The vice president’s defense of Trump comes as others expressed their disapproval of the post, which was also reposted by the official White House account.

The pope advocated against the Trump administration’s immigration policies earlier this year, calling it a “major crisis,” but his meeting with Vance was warm. The Holy Father even gave three chocolate Easter eggs for the vice president’s children. Vance, who is Catholic, defended the meme. “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,” he wrote on X.