Donald Trump has called Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, who begged him to show mercy to LGBTQ+ children and immigrants, “nasty” and “not very good at her job.”
On Tuesday (21 January), at the Washington National Cathedral, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde spoke during Trump’s inaugural prayer service and pleaded for him to show mercy to minority groups.
President Trump watched the sermon alongside first lady Melania Trump, vice president JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance.
“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” Budde said.
“They are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives,” she continued, before calling for mercy toward immigrants too.
Following the service Trump told The Hill that it wasn’t “exciting” and that “they could do much better.”
He also took to Truth Social to demand an apology from Bishop Budde.
“The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard-line Trump hater. She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way.”
He continued: “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.
“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 [an] uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!”
The sermon came the morning after Trump signed a raft of executive orders, including an anti-trans measure proclaiming that the US recognises only two sexes, which has been condemned by an LGBTQ+ organisation as “a direct assault on LGBTQ+ Americans”.
