US President Donald Trump has once again become the ‘Antichrist’ for many, following an article by American business outlet Fortune titled ‘The Vatican asked Pope Francis funeral attendees to wear all black. Trump wore a blue suit’. The story quickly went viral, spreading across Western mainstream media and social media platforms. Outrage ensued—users viciously criticized Trump for allegedly disrespecting the late pope and the Vatican, with some calling the US president a ‘POS’ (piece of sh*t) and using other vulgar terms.
The case is a prime example of how mainstream media manipulates readers to generate hate and outrage towards right-wing, conservative, and patriotic leaders globally—particularly Donald Trump, who is frequently portrayed as Satan himself and often compared to Adolf Hitler by the same outlets.
Protocol for a Papal Funeral
On Saturday, 26 April, Pope Francis, who had died on Easter Monday, was laid to rest in Rome, with a traditional papal funeral ceremony held at the Vatican’s St Peter’s Square. Given the magnitude of the event, most world leaders were present, including Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Argentinian President Javier Milei, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and even former US President Joe Biden. Royals such as Prince William also attended.
A papal funeral is a highly protocolar and traditional ceremony, which indeed has a dress code. According to the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, Vatican protocol dictates the following dress requirements for such an event: ‘For men, a dark suit with a long black tie and a button of the same colour on the left lapel of the jacket, where only Vatican honours can be placed. For women, a black dress, preferably long, matching gloves and a head veil, with the only permitted ornament being a string of pearls.’
However, Fortune and other mainstream media outlets manipulated these facts in several ways to suggest that Donald Trump was deliberately disrespectful towards the late pope and the Vatican—and to imply that he was the only one to do so.
Headline and Cover Scream Manipulation
The first manipulation lies in the title itself: ‘The Vatican asked…’ suggests that the Holy See had issued a direct and formal statement regarding the dress code at Pope Francis' funeral. This was not the case. No official Vatican statement was made regarding attire for the funeral; the expectations stemmed purely from longstanding protocol. There was no explicit request from the Vatican that Trump rejected—despite the title implying otherwise.
Most news consumers do not read full articles. According to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey, 63 per cent of US adults only read headlines and view cover photos without engaging with the full content, a behaviour even more pronounced among Millennials and Generation Z. A separate study by Penn State University found that over 75 per cent of Facebook users shared news articles without clicking to read them. Every media professional is well aware of these trends—and Fortune knowingly exploited them.
Beyond the misleading title, Fortune featured a close-up cover photo showing Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and nearby leaders including Polish President Andrzej Duda and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. In this carefully cropped image, Trump appeared to be the only one wearing a blue suit.
However, if we zoom out, numerous other attendees—including Prince William and even Joe Biden—were also wearing blue suits. Indian President Droupadi Murmu was also spotted wearing blue.
The direct intention to manipulate becomes even more evident upon reading the full article—which most news consumers do not do—, as Fortune eventually included a zoomed-out photograph alongside a paragraph mentioning that other leaders also failed to follow protocol. Among them was Zelenskyy, who did not even wear a suit; instead, he attended in his usual military-style tracksuit, although at least in black this time.
Familiar Tactics
Fortune achieved its objective: the article spread like wildfire on social media, igniting outrage and fuelling division and the demonization of Trump. Some even speculated that Trump’s choice of a blue suit was a deliberate political statement against Pope Francis’ views on migration and human rights.
The torrent of slurs, conspiracy theories, and vulgar insults demonstrates how unscrupulously mainstream media outlets treat leaders who oppose the liberal-progressive mainstream.
This pattern is by no means exclusive to Trump; Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, for example, has been facing similar media smear campaigns for over 15 years and continues to do so today, involving statements taken out of context, deliberate misinterpretations, and outright fake news.
What Fortune also failed to mention were the possible cultural and religious reasons behind the choices of Trump and other leaders. As Hindu Times noted, neither Trump nor Prince William is Catholic. Strict dress rules for funerals are deeply rooted in Roman Catholic tradition. Trump is a nondenominational Christian and Prince William is a member of the Church of England—factors that may have influenced their decision to wear blue. Similarly, President Murmu, as a Hindu, comes from a tradition where white is worn for funerals. However, likely aware of the potential backlash, she opted for blue instead. Interestingly, Joe Biden—a Catholic—also wore a dark blue suit, a fact that conveniently escaped the attention of the same mainstream outlets so eager to vilify Trump.
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