President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for an apology from the Episcopal bishop of Washington after she used a prayer service during his inauguration to make a direct appeal, urging him to show compassion toward the LGBTQ+ community and undocumented migrant workers in the United States.
Referencing Trump’s belief that he was saved by God from assassination, the Right Rev. Mariann Budde said, “You have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.”
After he returned to the White House, Trump said, “I didn’t think it was a good service” and “they could do much better.” However, in an overnight post on his social media site, he sharply criticized the “so-called Bishop” as a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater.”
“She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart,” said Trump, who noted that several migrants who entered the country illegally have since harmed or killed American citizens.
“Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job!” Trump said. “She and her church owe the public an apology!”
In her sermon, Budde said they gathered “to pray for unity as a people and a nation — not for agreement, political or otherwise — but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division.”
She would then add, “Unity is not partisan” — before launching into her partisan plea for migrants and gender-confused children.
Budde, who delivered this year’s sermon, has previously joined other cathedral leaders in criticizing Trump, condemning his “racialized rhetoric” and accusing him of inciting the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob attempting to overturn the election results.
In 2020, Budde said she was “outraged” after Trump staged a photo op in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church near the White House, holding up a Bible after the area had been cleared of protesters, some of whom started a fire there.
Trump wasn’t alone in objecting to Budde’s remarks. Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK) left the service early and later explained his decision in a post on X.
“I purposely left the prayer service early after realizing how the pulpit was being used for liberal means and not for true worship unto God and to seek His will and wisdom. Mr. President … what accosted you today was political, not Biblical,” he said.
To close her sermon, Budde spoke directly to the president, saying, “Let me make one final plea, Mr. President, millions have put their trust in you, and as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic and Republican and Independent families, some who fear for their lives.”
“And the people – the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meet packing plants, who wash the dishes at their restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals—they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors,” Budde continued. “They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues… and temples.”
She then asked Trump to have “mercy on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones of persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome, our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to a stranger.”
