Trump calls bishop who bravely asked him to show mercy to LGBTQ+ children and immigrants ‘nasty’
US president Donald Trump has called Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde ‘nasty’ after she pleaded for him to show mercy to minority groups. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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.
Wow. Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde fearlessly calls out Trump and Vance to their faces. This is heroic. (posting in 3 parts due to Bluesky's 1 minute limit)
— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) 21 January 2025 at 19:02
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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”.
What did Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde say to Trump and Vance?
During her 15-minute sermon, Bishop Budde called for the president and vice president to show mercy to those who are living in fear.
She said: “Let me make one final plea Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you and as you told the nation yesterday you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives.
“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…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 faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurudwaras and temples. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. And that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.”
Part 3/3
— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) 21 January 2025 at 19:04
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Budde concluded: “Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love and walk humbly with each other and our God for the good of all people. Good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen.”
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde has since responded to Trump’s ‘feedback’
In an interview with CNN after her sermon went viral, she said: “[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.
“I wanted to counter, as gently as I could, with a reminder of their humanity and their place in our wider community.”
The bishop continued: “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 neighbours and our friends.”
When asked about Trump’s comments, Bishop Budde replied: “I speak from what I believe I‘ve been given to say and let it go from there,” she continued. “It was a respectful response. He didn’t like it. He said so. He said we could do better. Some of the other comments I’ve received haven’t been as kind or as muted, shall we say.”
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