President Trump lashed out at the Democratic bishop who criticized him and Vice President JD Vance during the National Prayer Service, as the reverend admitted using her prayer remarks as an opportunity to deliver a political lecture to the commander-in-chief, describing it as a “one-on-one conversation.”
Hours later, in a 1 a.m. post on Truth Social, the President slammed Episcopal Bishop of Washington, Mariann Budde, as “not compelling or smart” and demanded an apology to the public. Budde, who went viral after criticizing Trump during Tuesday’s inaugural sermon, said that she made the harsh remarks due to his portrayal of transgender children and undocumented immigrants “in the harshest possible terms.”
Trump Tears into Budde
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“The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Wednesday.
“She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.”
Truth Social
After Budde used her sermon to plead with Trump for “mercy” toward transgender children and undocumented immigrants, Trump responded by saying that her argument disregarded the facts.
“She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people,” Trump wrote. “Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA.
“Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!”
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On Tuesday, directly addressed Trump in her sermon, urging him to show leniency toward illegal migrants, refugees, and the LGBTQ+ community. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives,” Budde said from the pulpit.
Budde highlighted several jobs held by undocumented migrants, emphasizing that they are not criminals, before making her plea to the president.
“I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, 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 and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we will all want strangers in this land.”
No Apology but Admitting to Her Plans
Earlier Budde admitted that smartly used the National Prayer Service as an opportunity to deliver a political lecture to the President. “(I was) reminding us all that the people that are frightened in our country, the two groups that I mentioned, are our fellow human beings, and that they have been portrayed all throughout the political campaign in the harshest of lights,” she said in Trump’s reaction to her sermon.
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“I wanted to counter, as gently as I could, with a reminder of their humanity and their place in our wider community.
“I was speaking to the president because I felt that he has this moment now where he feels charged and empowered to do what he feels called to do, and I wanted to say there is room for mercy. There is room for a broader compassion.
“We don’t need to portray with a broad cloth in the harshest of terms some of the most vulnerable people in our society, who are in fact our neighbors and our friends.”
Budde’s sermon sparked outrage from conservatives, with many criticizing her for politicizing a religious service. Republican Congressman Mike Collins remarked on X: “The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list.”
Budde after the November 2024 election wrote: “I’m grateful for the consistent message of those prayers: that regardless of political affiliation and strongly-held views, we are united in our commitment to follow Jesus in the way of love.
“Such love calls us to seek and serve Christ in all persons and uphold the dignity of every human being—a tall order at any time, but all the more so throughout a season of heated, divisive political rhetoric.
“Now the political realignment begins, in a dramatic shift of power. For some, this is very good news; for others, it is worrisome and even frightening.”
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“In times of dramatic change—no matter how we feel about it—we are vulnerable to our most unhelpful tendencies and often make our greatest mistakes.
“Paradoxically, it is also when we have the potential to take enormous leaps of personal maturity and societal courage. It is that potential to which Jesus calls us.”
Budde had also spoken out after George Floyd’s death, sharing with PBS that her children had taken part in Black Lives Matter protests.
