Donald Trump attacked the Washington bishop after he gave a lecture on respecting immigrants and LGBT citizens at a televised church service.
The president remained straight-faced alongside his vice president JD Vance as bishop Mariann Edgar Budde addressed him at Tuesday’s interfaith prayer service at Washington National Cathedral, telling him to “have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now”.
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The direct call to Mr. Trump, which lasted approximately two minutes, has gone viral on social media and excited complaints from Republicans about a specific member of Congress who suggested the president expel the bishop.
But what exactly did Bishop Budde say and what has the president’s response been?
What did Monsignor Budde say?
She began, “Let me post one last call, Mr. President. Millions of other people have trusted you.
“At the call of our God, I ask that you have mercy on the other people in our country who are afraid right now.
“There are gay, lesbian and transgender young people in democratic, republican and independent families, some of whom worry about their lives. “
The bishop then highlighted the contribution of asylum seekers, something Trump wasted no time in cracking down.
She indexed the groups, adding “the other people who collect our crops and clean our buildings” and “that wash the dishes after dinner in restaurants and make night shifts in hospitals. “
“They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals,” she said. Mr Trump then looked down at the floor.
She continued: “I ask her to have mercy, Mr. President, in those of our communities whose young people are concerned that her parents be kidnapped.
“And could you, those who flee from war and persecution in your own country, find compassion and welcome here?
“Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land.”
Her comments came after Mr Trump promised to carry out the biggest deportation in US history and his executive order stating the government will recognise only two sexes.
How did Donald Trump and other Republicans react?
The president remained unmoved by her comments, and was seated next to his wife Melania in the front row, and next to Mr. Vance and his wife Usha Vance.
He did it at some point and on his shoulder before examining the brochure he held.
At the point of the sermon, Trump turned to his vice president and the two men exchanged a wordless look.
Mr. Vance raised his eyebrows at one point and turned to glance at his wife, whose gaze remained firmly forward.
He repeated that step after the bishop spoke about immigrants and then whispered something to Vance.
When Bishop Budde finished her sermon, Mr Trump leaned over to say something to Mr Vance, who shook his head in response.
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Asked what he thought of the sermon as he returned to the Oval Office, the president told reporters: “They could have done better.”
In a late-night post on his social media platform, Truth Social, he called Archbishop Budde a “radical left-wing hardline enemy of Trump” and said he had “an unpleasant tone, and was neither convincing nor intelligent. “
“She brought her church into global politics in a way,” he said.
“Besides her, apart from the point statements, the service is very boring and uninteresting. She is not very smart at her job. She and her church owe excuses to the public. “
Republican Congressman Mike Collins shared a video of the sermon on X and wrote: “The user giving this sermon will be added to the ban list. “
Who is Mariann Edgar Budde?
She was elected as the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington (EDW) in 2011, having served as rector of St John’s Episcopal Church in Minneapolis for 18 years.
His sermons have been published in several books and magazines, and he is the author of 3 of his own books on faith, most recently in 2023.
He also brazenly criticized Trump before, after writing an op-ed for the New York Times in 2020, in which he condemned him for clearing Lafayette Square, near the White House, amid George Floyd protests, and then posing for photographs on the grounds of nearby St. John’s Church while holding a Bible.
She said she was “outraged” by the move and claimed he was using the Bible and the backdrop of the church, which belongs to her diocese, “for his political purposes”.
The EDW’s website describes her as “an advocate and organiser in support of justice concerns, including racial equity, gun violence prevention, immigration reform, the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons, and the care of creation”.
The bishop is married and the father of two children and grandchildren, he adds.