Photo: Boston Globe
Because how could you not?
By Arianna Jeret — Written on May 24, 2017
We all knew that President Donald J. Trump's first meeting with Pope Francis could most certainly be nothing if not memorable.
Considering the Pope's now famous remarks during the 2016 Presidential campaign, in which he shared his view that, "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," one might easily expect a face-to-face confrontation between the two world leaders to be somewhat tense at best.
According to the New York Times, Trump responded in kind.
"Mr. Trump responded immediately at a campaign rally in Kiawah Island, S.C. Discussing the Islamic State, [Trump said that] 'their primary goal is to get to the Vatican. If and when the Vatican is attacked ... the pope would only wish and have prayed that Donald Trump would have been elected president.'"
Of course, all big boys know that people in such esteemed positions as those of the Pope and the President of the United States of America have to put such squabbles aside when performing the duties of their office — AKA posing for photo ops in front of large crowds of press.
Alas, try as they might to put on the good show, the pictures making the rounds show that this has been a particularly difficult task to pull off for poor Pope Francis.
Happily, for the rest of us, the good people of Twitter have already begun to do what the good people of Twitter do best.
Not only have they shared informative insights about the Pope's position on climate change and his gifting of his 2015 encyclical on the environment and climate change to President #45, but they have worked full-steam ahead to keep us all from sinking into a further pit of despair by letting the one-liners, memes, and Munsters-theme song parodies fly.
To help you keep your own spirits up along those same lines, here are 21 of the funniest tweets about Trump and the Pope's first meeting:
1. Wait, were they in Milan or Vatican City?
"Not gonna lie I love this look."
2. We're just a tiny bit confused...
"Sopranos reboot looks weird."
3. Relatable.
"You vs the guy she 'only likes as a friend, promise."
4. Super scary!
"I like the wide angle shot better. Looks like a horror movie set."
5. Poor guy.
"Donald Trump made the happiest Pope sad."
6. Could Trump be eating for two? Or is he just feeding off billions?
"'I don't feed my husband anything,' Melania replied. 'He dines on the pain of others, salted by tears of children.'"
7. Wait, which way is North again?
"Pope: God commands us to serve the poor
Trump: Have you seen the Electoral College map?
Pope: And to preserve the Earth
Trump: Red means..."
8. Well, then it MUST be true...
"Trump: 'Also the Pope told me there is no evidence I colluded with Russia.'"
9. Of course, there's always a flipside.
"The pope tried to make a big statement about walls today while talking to Trump... While he was being protected in the Vatican by walls!"
10. We can almost hear the heavy sighs...
"LMAO! Even Pope Francis made the 'Would you look at this f*cking guy' face that everyone makes when they meet Trump."
11. Maybe it's just the hormones.
"Pope Francis is literally my favorite angsty teen."
12. It was an accident!
"Trump: Hello
Pope Francis: (throws holy water at trump) Sorry, I er...greet all my guests like this. Nothing personal, pinky swear."
13. It's about time they got their own family theme song!
"They're creepy and they're kooky
Mysterious and spooky
They're altogether loony
The Trump Family"
14. You're asking ME?!
"Trump: 'These are some terrific books by Martin Luther King'
Pope Francis: 'Are they good?'
Trump: 'I have no idea.'"
15. Can't say we're really surprised following the hand-swat-heard-around-the-world.
"Poor #Pope Francis... I'm not sure who is less impressed, the Pope or Melania."
16. J.K. Rowling must be so proud.
"Dumbledore meets Slytherin House accompanied by hooded dementors."
17. We get it. Man, do we get it.
"Here's Pope Francis internally screaming for some help from God."
18. Pope Francis is all of us right now.
"Me too, Pope Francis."
19. Now THAT sounds like a meeting that could hold some kind of promise for a better future!
"Pope Francis couldn't look more enthused about meeting his arch nemesis... the Antichrist."
20. Verrrry in-ter-est-ing ...
"Bill O'Reilly met Pope Francis just before Fox canned him. Hope he can work his magic again."
21. Sad but true.
"Pope Francis, 'Who died?'
Ivanka, 'Freedom, peace, and hope.'"
And last but certainly not least, we leave you with this...