The G7 summit was held in Italy on June 14, 2024. Many pictures commemorating the event captured the attendees and their interactions and also gave people a lot to say.
Among the shots taken that day, was a controversial one that got tongues on social media wagging. It captured a simple interaction between Joe Biden, and Pope Francis. But according to Donald Trump, the religious leader was “freaking out” while it happened.
Footage from the event showed the Pope greeting Biden and other world leaders warmly on the summit’s sidelines. There was nothing special there. But then it captured Francis smiling at Biden, who leaned down to speak with him. At some point, their foreheads touched.
The interaction looked simple enough. However, Trump’s comment fanned the flames of a conspiracy that implied the Pope was uncomfortable with the closeness.
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“He’s freaking out!” Trump exclaimed via a post he shared on his Truth Social platform. It also included a photo of the two leaders with their foreheads touching. “This can’t be normal, can it?” Trump asked.
In a report of the meeting with Francis, president Biden expressed gratitude to the Pope, thanking him for the Vatican’s recent humanitarian efforts. Some of these efforts include aiding kidnapped Ukrainian children reunite with their families.
Biden also expressed his appreciation for Francis’s advocacy for the less fortunate, the persecuted, and climate change. The President and the Pope have maintained a deepening friendship even though they last met physically in 2021.
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At the time, Biden says the Pope expressed happiness in his being a “good Catholic.” Trump made his controversial statement about Biden’s interaction with Francis after he said that the President needs to take a cognitive test during a speech at the Turning Point Action convention in Detroit.
This came moments before Trump shot himself in the foot by confusing the name of the doctor who was in charge of the cognitive test he took during his presidency.
Trump claimed that the doctor, whose name is actually Ronny Jackson, told him that he was the “healthiest president in history.” Admittedly, the statement immediately granted Jackson favor in his eyes, and the two have since become each other’s biggest supporters.
Ronny Jackson was the White House physician for part of Trump’s presidency. He is now a Republican congressman and reportedly corroborates Trump’s claims of his mental acuity.
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Trump, now 78, has built a portion of his campaign on Biden’s mental capabilities. He repeatedly demanded a debate from Biden, and some of his fears were confirmed when the two squared off in the first-ever presidential debate last month.
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