Washington • President Donald Trump said Monday that he “had nothing to do with” a depiction of himself as the pope that was shared on his and White House social media accounts over the weekend, distancing himself from the apparently artificial intelligence-generated image that has agitated Catholics.

President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed the backlash against an AI-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.

Trump claims he “had nothing to do with” a depiction of himself as the Pope that was shared on his and White House social media accounts, distancing himself from the AI-generated image