President Donald Trump was directly called out to his face during a sermon at the Washington National Cathedral Tuesday.
Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and their spouses were in attendance for the church service at the progressive institution, and had to listen as Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop at the cathedral, delivered a direct appeal to the president to conclude her sermon.
“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,” Budde said, but didn’t stop at LGBTQ rights, going on to address Trump’s plans for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
“The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking 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,” Budde continued.
The bishop then called on Trump “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.”
It was a bold address for a Christian leader to make to the famously thin-skinned president to his face, particularly since Trump has been avoiding confrontational appearances and interviews for several months. When asked about the prayer event later Tuesday, Trump was dismissive, telling the press that the service was “not too exciting” and “they can do much better.”
Supporters of the president were none too happy with Budde’s remarks, with Representative Mike Collins posting that the bishop should be “added to the deportation list” and pundit Charlie Kirk saying that “she disgraced herself with a lecture you’d hear on CNN or an episode of The View.”
But, following Trump’s inauguration, Budde has the honor of being the first person to publicly confront the president to his face, at a time when many Americans will be looking for some form of hope in the face of what could be a very dark four years. Perhaps Trump’s other opponents should take inspiration in their attempts to thwart the president’s immediate agenda.
The post Trump in Disbelief as Bishop Calls Him Out in Inaugural Prayer appeared first on New Republic.
