That pope ‘frown’? More fake news from fake media

Pope Francis appeared to be scowling in a picture with the American First Family during Trump’s Wednesday Trip to the Vatican, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

As photographers snapped images of the POTUS and the Pontiff together, news and social media seized on one where the latter looked less than amused, some taking it as an implicit disapproval of the former.

In presence of pool reporters @POTUS said to @Pontifex it's "a very great honor." The pope did not say anything. He did not smile. pic.twitter.com/Li0uhlE7w9

— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) May 24, 2017

Pope Francis met Donald Trump and seemingly forgot how to smile https://t.co/gtmJBcwqiy pic.twitter.com/fqPBv1JYCw

— Mashable (@mashable) May 24, 2017

Pope Francis, we liked Obama more too! #TrumpInItaly #TrumpPope pic.twitter.com/hgdtUPvp1A

— Khary Penebaker (@kharyp) May 24, 2017

Pope: "I want to go home"

Aide: "You are home"

"I hate this"

"Just smile"

"These people are awful"

"Be nice"

"I want an ice cream" pic.twitter.com/zBwvOb5nQE

— TechnicallyRon (@TechnicallyRon) May 24, 2017

A picture’s worth a thousand words, so they say. But this is one picture in a slew of hundreds.

First off, there are these pictures, which indicate that the encounter was far from the wholly icy affair that others seemed to gather from the scowl image.

Trump calls meeting Pope Francis the ‘honor of a lifetime’ https://t.co/aALETM6mo2 pic.twitter.com/q3dLTz6EqH

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) May 24, 2017

Trump met Pope Francis for the first time at the Vatican this morning. He gifted him with a set of writings from Martin Luther King Jr. pic.twitter.com/TGbZHrgMqX

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 24, 2017

And there’s this interesting exchange between His Holiness and the First Lady over the president’s diet:

Pope to Melania Trump: "What do you give him to eat, pizza?”

Melania: "Pizza." (per pooler @carolelee)

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) May 24, 2017

Side note: Some reports indicate that, due to a mistranslation, Pope Francis was actually referring to a dessert from the First Lady’s native Slovenia. Either way, not a joke you’d make to someone you’re giving the stink-eye.

And here’s some historical context as a chaser.

Just a reminder: When heads of state meet, photogrophers take hundres of shots, and #PopeFrancis is prone to not holding a smile. #PopeTrump pic.twitter.com/Q2Yt06wbhM

— William J. Upton (@wupton) May 24, 2017

So what does one frowning picture tell us about how the meeting between the Bishop of Rome and the President of the United States went or how they view each other overall? Absolutely nothing. Carry on.