Donald Trump issued a scathing rebuke to the woke bishop who berated him at the National Prayer Service, slamming her as ‘not compelling or smart’ and demanding an apology to the public.
The President slammed Episcopal Bishop of Washington Mariann Budde in a 1am post to his Truth Social platform, hours after she admitted to CNN that she used the religious event to deliver a political lecture.
‘The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater,’ he railed.
‘She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.’
After Budde used her sermon to beg Trump for ‘mercy’ towards transgender children and illegal immigrants, Trump said her argument ignored reality.
‘She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people,’ he went on. ‘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 uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!’
The post came as Budde’s sermon sparked widespread backlash from conservatives, with Republican Congressman Mike Collins going as far as calling for the radical bishop to be ‘added to the deportation list.’
Donald Trump issued a scathing rebuke to the woke bishop who berated him at the National Prayer Service, slamming her as ‘not compelling or smart’ as he demanded an apology
Trump sat stony-faced throughout the sermon delivered by Bishop Mariann Budde at Tuesday’s National Prayer Service as she begged him to grant ‘mercy’ on transgender children and illegal immigrants
Budde, 65, the left-wing Episcopal Bishop of Washington, later admitted that she used the religious event to ‘talk directly’ to Trump in her sermon
Budde’s sermon went viral on Tuesday after she went on a wild lecture claiming trans kids were ‘fearing for their lives’ now Trump is back in the White House.
Trump sat stone-faced in the front row, next to First Lady Melania Trump, as the prelate told him illegal immigrants were ‘not criminals’, and he shouldn’t deport those with children.
Budde begged Trump to grant ‘mercy upon the people in our country that are scared now’, invoking the bible as she said ‘God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger.’
‘There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families, some who fear for their lives,’ she continued.
Moving onto illegal immigrants, a central issue on Trump’s victorious presidential platform, Budde urged him not to follow through with his mass deportation plans.
‘The people who pick our crops, and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants, and work the night shifts in hospitals, they might not be citizens or have the proper documentation,’ she said.
‘The vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. I ask you to have mercy Mr. President on those in communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away.’
Trump didn’t react to the pointed message as he sat staring at Budde, although others in his group, including new Vice President JD Vance, wore a more telling expression on their faces.
Speaking to reporters at the White House shortly after the service, Trump was more reserved than his Truth Social rebuke, but said briefly that he thought Budde ‘could have been much better.‘
In an interview hours after the sermon, Budde, said she gave the viral political lecture because of how Trump portrayed transgender children and illegal immigrants ‘in the harshest of lights’
Donald Trump said in brief remarks at the White House that Budde ‘could have been much better’ in response to her sermon on Tuesday
In an interview with CNN hours after her sermon went viral, Budde admitted she used the religious event to berate Trump with what she described as a ‘one on one conversation.’
She said she felt compelled to give the controversial speech because of how Trump portrayed transgender children and illegal immigrants ‘in the harshest of lights.’
‘(I was) reminding us all that the people that are frightened in our country, the two groups that I mentioned, are our fellow human beings, and that they have been portrayed all throughout the political campaign in the harshest of lights,’ she said.
‘I wanted to counter, as gently as I could, with a reminder of their humanity and their place in our wider community.
‘I was speaking to the president because I felt that he has this moment now where he feels charged and empowered to do what he feels called to do, and I wanted to say there is room for mercy. There is room for a broader compassion.
‘We don’t need to portray with a broad cloth in the harshest of terms some of the most vulnerable people in our society, who are in fact our neighbors and our friends.’
As Budde’s sermon drew outrage from conservatives who questioned her decision to politicize the religious service, Republican Congressman Mike Collins said on X: ‘The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list.’
Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno also waded in to condemn Budde, saying on X: ‘As a Catholic and legal immigrant, it’s outrageous that some woke Bishop would lecture President Trump about deporting illegals.
‘It’s an insult to all of us who came to this country the right way. If you don’t have borders, then you don’t have a country.’
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who was seen celebrating the inauguration with the Trump family on Monday night, branded Budde’s lecture an ’embarrassment.’
‘She was given a great honor today, a chance to unify America around a Christian message at the dawn of a new administration,’ he said on X.
‘Instead, she disgraced herself with a lecture you’d hear on CNN or an episode of The View.’
Following Budde’s speech, scrutiny fell on her background as some questioned why she was granted the honor of delivering the sermon.
An image from Budde’s church, the St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist Church, circulated across social media, showing the church – which also reportedly serves as a migrant shelter – attempts to ban ICE and Homeland Security from entering.
After the sermon went viral, an image from Budde’s church – which also reportedly serves as a migrant shelter – showed the property attempts to ban ICE and Homeland Security from entering
In 2020 Budde also hit out at Trump who staged a visit to St John’s Church near the White House after police dispersed protestors
She is known to champion leftist causes through her ministry, and on her diocesan website, she boasts of serving as ‘an advocate and organizer in support of justice concerns, including racial equity, gun violence prevention, immigration reform, the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons, and the care of creation.’
She also has a long history of criticizing President Trump during his first term.
That included after after he stood next to an Episcopal church holding a Bible after clearing protesters out of Lafayette Square near the White House during the Black Lives Matter protests.
At the time, she said that Trump’s actions were ‘antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and everything that we as a church stand for.’
She also condemned Trump while attending an outdoor Black Lives Matter protest in 2020, wearing a mask during the coronavirus pandemic.
‘I’ve given up speaking to President Trump. We need to replace President Trump,’ she said then.
