Mr. vs Ms. Trump: Her picture at the Pope’s funeral seemed worth a thousand words [in French: “mille MOTS] whereas his online AI picture seems worth a thousand evil [in French: “mille MAUX”]

We do not have to be of Christian faith, or specifically Catholic, to sense the odd yet unkind, and even disgusting, disrespect to Humankind in Mr. Trump’s online AI-generated picture of himself dressed as a Pope (https://shorturl.at/byYqO). May Pope Francis’ memory be eternal (his dead body was still hot only 2 weeks ago).

Now, Mr. Trump, or his colleagues who have defended him, might say that he was “just joking” or that he has been in political disagreement with the Vatican. Regardless of the excuse to justify the online behaviour, it is senseless. Period. There is no point in trying to understand an abusive behaviour. Just like with Canada to whom he keeps repeating “51st State“, either to play games or to truly de-stabilize our country by installing fear (and thus control). Anyhow, this so-called “joke” will likely be followed by an attempt to push the buttons of another target group, or to the Vatican again until a new Pope is elected, maybe to feel (politically or personally) superior. If that is the case, only deeply wounded leaders, or anyone of us, repeatedly resort to such behaviours to elevate themselves.

Please make no mistake dear readers, we do not have to agree with someone to respect him, before his death or postmortem, or to respect what he represents to a large proportion of the population Perhaps the latter includes Mr. Trump’s Vice President or his wife. Who knows?

Indeed, Ms. Melania Trump’s picture at the Pope’s funeral projected respect for the deceased (https://shorturl.at/sLiWn), more cleverly than her spouse right now. Indeed, she attended the service FULLY dressed in black. She even had a veil on her head (which she did not wear when she visited Saudi Arabia during his first presidency). In addition, we could see a cross around her neck. All the details of the image are signs of respect and even compassion, even if it was calculated and not spontaneous.

Of note, even wild deer, and not just human beings, did not agree with all the ideas or, perhaps approaches of late Pope Francis, or his entourage at least, to solve some of the world’s problems. Although her blog posted a couple of older posts where she expressed specific disagreement, Bambi has the utmost respect for Pope Francis and even more so for his institution, despite any historical or potential mistakes, excesses, or fanaticism (like for all religions and all other ideologies, including secular ones).

As for Mr. Trump, without being fatally allergic to him to the same extent as she is to aspirin, she tells herself that he will finish his presidency sooner or later. Until then, despite his personality style, she could even agree with him on some issues yet disagree on others or on the methods (i.e., the ends do not justify the means). At the end of the day, she does not have to endure him, or someone with his personality style, under her own roof (thank God). Thus, she has enough intellectual and emotional distance to be lucid. She can even recognize (when/if she sees it) any good legacy of his second presidency for his country or for the world. Yet, in her mind, she knows when an online behaviour is unacceptable, especially when its author is the US President.

This being said, she feels sad for the United States of America to be where it is right now. Mind you, when Mr. Biden was the US President, she also felt sad, but for different reasons: whenever she sensed what looked like senior abuse, especially in those moments where he showed signs of mental unwellness, her heart went to him.

For her, perhaps unlike for Mr. Trump (at least apparently because she is not a mind reader), what matters the most is the following: she was on the same page as the late Pope Francis when it came to the essence, the values of humanity. To her, this matters more than shared faith/spirituality with him. She is thinking of the values of dignity, along with compassion, for all. Upon learning about the death of this senior man of faith, love, empathy, and humility, she felt a sense of deep loss. She first offered her condolences to a couple of friends who had the honour to have met him in person. With a brief post, she then paid a heartfelt tribute to Pope Francis. May his soul rest in peace again.

Good luck to the papal conclave in electing a new Pope. Regardless of his ethnolinguistic background or vision, may the latter be wise. Yes, our deeply troubled world needs wisdom more than ever.