President Donald Trump received a stern lecture from Bishop Marianne Budde during the interfaith prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday.
Budde concluded her sermon by asking Trump to have mercy on the people of the United States, especially illegal immigrants and LGBTQ individuals of all parties.
“I ask you to have compassion for the people in our country who are afraid right now,” she said. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some of whom fear for their lives.”
She also asked Trump to have compassion for illegal immigrants, noting that they were the ones doing low-skilled and service jobs in the United States.
“The people who pick our crops, clean our office buildings, who work in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants, and work night shifts in hospitals, they may not be citizens or have the proper rights. documentation,” she said.
Trump did not appear moved by the sermon as he looked wearily at the bishop after a full day and night of inauguration festivities the day before.
US President Donald Trump stands next to Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde as he attends the National Day of Prayer at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, US, January 21, 2025.
Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde speaks as US President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania and US Vice President JD Vance attend the National Day of Prayer with Second Lady Usha
“The vast majority of immigrants are not criminals,” Budde pleaded. “I ask you to have compassion, Mr. President, for those in communities whose children fear their parents will be taken away,” she said.
“Our God teaches us to be merciful to the stranger, for once in the land we were all strangers,” she concluded.
Budde received sharp criticism for her sermon from Republicans and Trump supporters.
“The person preaching this sermon should be added to the deportation list,” Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) wrote on social media.
Budde has a long history of criticizing President Donald Trump during his first term, especially after he stood next to the Episcopal Church with the Bible in his hand after clearing demonstrators from Lafayette Square near the White House during the Black Lives Matter protests .
In an interview with CBS the next morning, Budde denounced Trump's actions, calling them “contrary to the teachings of Jesus and everything we stand for as a church.”
She also condemned Trump while attending an outdoor Black Lives Matter protest while wearing a mask during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I have given up talking to President Trump. We must replace President Trump,” she said.
