President Trump has slammed the bishop who called on him to “have mercy” on immigrants and LGBTQ+ people.
Trump, 78, is officially the 47th President of the United States following his inauguration on Monday (January 20).
Just 24 hours after taking the oath of office, the president attended an inaugural prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, where the sermon was delivered by Right Rev. Mariann Budde.
The 65-year-old Episcopalian bishop confronted Trump, who recently approved executive orders that target immigrants and members of the LGBTQ+ community, and asked him to have “mercy” on them.
“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” Budde said. “There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families – some who fear for their lives.
“I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear 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,” she continued.
Budde also spoke passionately about the plight of immigrants, saying: “They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.”
Trump, who was sat in the front pew next to First Lady Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance, watched Budde’s service with a stone-faced expression.
Watch the moment below:
The president dismissed the service as “not too exciting” and stated that “they could do much better,” AP News reported.
He also took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to slam the bishop as a “radical left hard-line Trump hater”.
“She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. 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,” he continued in his post.
“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!” he added.
Trump’s statement was published after Budde explained to CNN that she used the service to remind everyone that LGBTQ+ people and immigrants are our “fellow human beings” who “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,” she shared. “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.”
Budde said that she spoke to the president directly because “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,” she added.