This week, former President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated image of himself dressed as the Pope. The post upset many Catholics, but late-night host Seth Meyers offered a different take. He joked that Melania Trump would support her husband becoming Pope—only because it would mean they’d have to divorce.
During Tuesday night’s episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, the NBC host opened his monologue by criticizing one of Trump’s recent social media posts. In that post, Trump suggested reopening Alcatraz prison. Meyers wasn’t alarmed by the idea. Instead, he joked that Trump may have just watched Clint Eastwood’s film Escape From Alcatraz on a flight.
“I love that you can tell from his social media posts what movie he watched on the plane,” Meyers said. “Honestly, I’m dying to know what he thought of Conclave.”
As Meyers delivered the line, the image of Trump as Pope appeared on screen. Coincidentally, the real papal conclave began on Wednesday morning. Meyers also pointed out that Trump made a joke to reporters on Monday about possibly becoming the Pope.
“I would not be able to be married though,” Trump remarked.
“And it looks like Melania’s voted!” Meyers responded, drawing laughs. He followed the joke with an image of white smoke rising from the Vatican—a traditional signal that a new Pope has been chosen.
The audience laughed and applauded. Meyers paused, smiled, and then explained the smoke system used during a conclave.
“Just remember,” he said, “black smoke means no decision, white smoke means a new Pope, and pink smoke means it’s a girl!”
