The bishop who led Tuesday’s inaugural prayer service called on President Donald Trump to “extend mercy” to voters, specifically naming LGBTQ people and immigrants.
The sermon by the Right Reverend Marian Edgar Budde, Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Washington, was delivered as part of a large post-inauguration interfaith ceremony at the Washington National Cathedral. President Trump sat in the front row during the service, along with First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and First Lady Usha Vance, a tradition for presidents of both parties.
“In the name of our God, please have mercy on the people of our country who are scared right now,” Budde said, looking directly at the president. “Democrat, Republican, and Independent families have gay, lesbian, and transgender children. Some fear for their lives.”
He added: “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. They are our He is a faithful member of his church, mosque, and synagogue.”
When Mr. Budde finished his sermon, Mr. Trump bent over to say something to Mr. Vance, who shook his head in response.
Later, as President Trump was walking down the White House Colonnade with Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, reporters asked him what he thought of the sermon. he asked the group. Do you find it exciting? He added: “I didn’t think it was a good service, no,” adding: “It could be better.”
Early Wednesday morning, President Trump responded to the sermon with a post on Truth Social, calling Budde a “so-called bishop” and a “radical left hardliner Trump hater.”
“She brought her church into politics in a very disrespectful way,” Trump said. “She had a bad tone, was neither persuasive nor intelligent.”
A Trump administration spokesperson did not respond to a request for additional comment.
In an interview with ABC’s “The View” on Wednesday, Budde said he hoped Tuesday’s sermon would be a call for national unity.
“I wanted to emphasize respect for the honor and dignity of every human being,” she said. “I was trying to counter a narrative that was so divisive and polarizing and where real people were being harmed.”
Budde’s sermon came a day after Trump was sworn into office and signed about 100 executive actions, including policies affecting LGBTQ people and immigrants.
Regarding LGBTQ people, President Trump announced a second order requiring the U.S. government to recognize only two genders, male and female, and ending “radical and wasteful” diversity, equity, and inclusion programs within federal agencies. signed a comprehensive executive order declaring.
The Trump administration also removed LGBTQ resources from government websites, including a page previously on the State Department website dedicated to promoting LGBTQ rights around the world.
On immigration, President Trump signed a series of executive actions calling for an end to birthright citizenship, an end to all refugee admissions, and the deployment of troops to the southern border.
Some of President Trump’s orders are likely to be the subject of extensive legal battles. A coalition of more than a dozen Democratic attorneys general filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block the Birthright Citizenship Order, which critics say violates the 14th Amendment.
The Trump administration also plans to expand CBP One, the government app migrants use to submit information and make appointments at Southwest border ports of entry, according to a statement posted on the Customs and Border Protection website. It has stopped functioning. It’s unclear whether the changes will be permanent.
Tuesday’s sermon was not the first time Bishop Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington has criticized President Trump. In June 2020, she wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about the clearing of Lafayette Square near the White House during the George Floyd protests and the subsequent photo shoot on the grounds of nearby St. John’s Church. He criticized the president at the time for posing for the photo. I have a Bible.
“The God I serve is a just one who calls his followers to follow Jesus’ example of sacrificial love and build what he called God’s kingdom on earth,” she wrote in an editorial. I wrote it. “What does Jesus’ sacrificial love look like now?”
