Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde has defended Tuesday’s National Prayer Service sermon, saying she “was trying to speak a truth that I felt needed to be said.” Ms Budde’s sermon was directed at President Donald Trump and touched on several issues, including immigration and LGBTQ+ rights.
“How could it not be politicised? We’re in a hyper-political climate,” Ms Budde explained during an appearance on ABC’s The View on Wednesday. She acknowledged the challenges of delivering such a message, saying she regularly warned against the “culture of contempt” in which people rush to judge others. She said that her goal was to be respectful while amplifying voices “that had not been heard for some time.”
During the Tuesday prayer service in Washington, Ms Budde addressed Trump directly, urging him to consider issues affecting marginalised groups. She spoke of “gay, lesbian, and transgender children” who “fear for their lives” and appealed for compassion toward immigrant families “whose children fear that their parents will be taken away.”
“I was looking at the President because I was speaking directly to him,” she explained in an interview with CNN. She said that her words were not just for Trump but for everyone listening. “I wanted to counter, as gently as I could, the harsh portrayals of these groups during the political campaign,” she said. “There is room for mercy. There’s room for broader compassion.”
“My responsibility that morning was to pray with the nation for unity. I wanted to emphasise respecting basic honesty and humility,” she said.
The Bishop highlighted the importance of viewing these marginalised individuals as “our neighbours, our friends, our children, and our friends’ children.”
Trump later slammed the bishop in a post on Truth Social, accusing her of being a “Radical Left hard-line Trump hater.” He said, “She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.” Trump also took issue with her comments on immigration, saying, “She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people.”
While her message was met with criticism from the President, Ms Budde was open to the idea of meeting with him one-on-one. On The View, she said, “I would welcome the opportunity. I have no idea how that would go, but I can assure him and everyone listening that I would be as respectful as I would with any person.” She added that any invitation to meet would have to come from the President himself.