The EYE ON TRUMP blog aims to keep EOS readers up-to-date with the events surrounding the new, and second, presidency of Donald J Trump, the convicted felon who is the new occupant of the White House.
We’ve been wondering what US voters have unleashed on the world. Well, they and we are beginning to find out with a torrent of executive orders!
Bishop Budde at a prayer service on Tuesday at Washington National Cathedral [Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times]
However, not everything is going to plan for the Orange One. At the religious service at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Washington DC on Day 2 the Episcopal Bishop of Washington DC tore into the new president in a way which seemed to take him fully by surprise, judging by the look on his face.
What did Bishop Mariann E Budde say?
A heated exchange unfolded between Donald Trump and Bishop Marianne Budde over her sermon advocating for compassion towards marginalized communities.
What did the Press have to say?
The Italian newspaper Il Messaggero focused on the compassionate appeal by the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, Marianne Budde.
Yesterday during the service at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Washington DC, one of the most significant churches in the city, she reminded the new president that one cannot lack mercy and exclude thousands and thousands of migrants and LGBT people from the life of the country, emphasizing that there are also gay, lesbian, and transgender children who now fear for their lives.
The harsh reaction of Donald Trump was not long in coming. Trump later wrote that she is a 'bad' bishop and demands an apology from her.
The sermon she delivered in front of Trump and Vice President Vance was not appreciated at all.
"This pseudo-bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning is a radical leftist who hates Trump with a passion," Vance wrote on his platform Truth Social.
"She was unpleasant in her tone and was neither convincing nor intelligent. She and her church owe the public an apology!"
Elon Musk, commenting on X, described the bishop's words as an example of "woke mentality virus."
Marianne Edgar Budde, 65, became a bishop in 2011 and in her district she is responsible for 86 congregations and ten schools.
She is known for being tough, frank, and certainly not easily influenced.
"I was just trying to tell him: the country has been entrusted to you. And one of the qualities of a leader is mercy.
America is increasingly divided. According to a poll, just over half of the country supports the deportation of every unauthorised immigrant living in the United States.
Elizabeth Dias, writing for The NY Times, speculated whether anyone was going to say anything?
Bishop Budde locked eyes with President Trump and made a plea for mercy — and the war over spiritual authority in America was ignited anew.
According to Dias Mariann E. Budde had planned for months to preach on three elements of unity — dignity, honesty and humility.
But just 24 hours earlier, she had watched President Trump proclaim his agenda from the inauguration stage, as conservative Christians anointed him with prayer.
He was no longer just campaigning — he was governing, she thought. His nascent presidency and flurry of executive orders had so far encountered little resistance. She felt duty bound to add a fourth element to her sermon: A plea for mercy, on behalf of everyone who is scared by the ways he has threatened to wield his power.
“I had a feeling that there were people watching what was happening and wondering, Was anyone going to say anything?” she explained quietly in an interview on Tuesday night. “Was anyone going to say anything about the turn the country’s taking?”
President Trump, seated seven feet below and some 40 feet to her right, made eye contact. One representation of American Christianity began speaking to another, and the most powerful man in the world was arrested by the words of a silver-haired female bishop in the pulpit.
Until he turned away.
Buzzfeed reported on Yahoo! that the Bishop is "braver than the entire Democrat Party”.
Michaela Bramwell, writing on the website, said that the chaos has already commenced with Trump's mass executive order signings that are already impacting marginalised communities.
Bishop Budde decided to speak up, and went went viral for her direct confrontation with Donald Trump during the National Prayer Service.
The Bishop directly asked Trump to "have mercy" on immigrants and LGBTQ+ individuals who "fear for their lives".
"This Woman Is Braver Than The Entire Democrat Party": This Clip Of A Bishop Asking Trump To Have Mercy On LGBTQ+ People And Immigrants Is Going Viral
She commented that there are people who do the mundane jobs who may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but a vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.
"I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away... Our God teaches us, that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land."
Here's Trump, with wife Melania, who appear visibly uncomfortable, and JD Vance and his wife Usha both look visibly annoyed:
Trump and Melania [YouTube] JD Vance and Usha also [Christian Today]
Kimberlee Speakman, writing for People, reported that Donald Trump had called the Bishop "nasty" and "not smart" for asking him to show "mercy" during the National Prayer Service.
Bishop Mariann Budde told the newly inaugurated president that his rhetoric has stoked fear among LGBTQ+ people and immigrants, prompting Trump to fire back on Truth Social hours later.
President Donald Trump took a jab at Bishop Mariann Budde for her sermon at the National Prayer Service when she called on him to show “mercy” to immigrants and those in the LGBTQ+ community.
A day after the sermon, Trump, 78, shared a lengthy post on Truth Social in which he wrote off the Episcopal bishop of Washington - who has previously been critical of him - as a “Radical Left hard-line Trump-hater.”
“She brought her church into the world of politics in a very ungracious way,” Trump wrote on Wednesday, Jan. 22. “She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.”
“She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our country and killed people,” he continued, repeating a common claim that he made during his 2024 presidential campaign.
“Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA.”
Trump continued his post by describing Budde's sermon as a “very boring” and “uninspiring one" and accusing her of being bad at her job.
He concluded: "She and her church owe the public an apology!”
After the service, Trump told reporters, via a video shared by the Associated Press: "Not too exciting, was it? I didn't think it was a very good service, no." He added, "They could do much better."
© The Real Inspector Hound
Links:
Pop Crave en X: "Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde pleads to President Donald Trump to have mercy amid LGBTQ+ and immigration policies.https://t.co/rNmpjmnd50" / X
Photos:
Amazon, Christian Today, Doug Mills, Facebook, Messaggero Digital, New York Times, YouTube
Acknowledgements:
Associated Press, Buzzfeed, Elizabeth Dias, Elon Musk, Il Messagero, Michaela Bramwell, New York Times, "People", SKY News, The Telegraph, Truth Social, Yahoo!, X
described the bishop's words as an example of
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