Bishop Mariann Budde of Washington addressed President Trump during the National Prayer Service, expressing concern for marginalized communities, particularly LGBTQ+ youth. She implored Trump to show mercy for those frightened by current policies. Post-service, Trump criticized the event's effectiveness, calling it unexciting and suggesting improvement. Budde described Trump's response as muted and noted that she has faced harsher criticisms for her political sermons. Despite not reading Trump's body language well, she emphasized the importance of respectful dialogue and speaking her beliefs irrespective of the audience's reactions.
I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now, Budde told Trump during the service. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives.
It was a respectful response. He didn't like it. He said so. He said we could do better, the bishop said.
I keep my expectations low whenever I preach... I can’t always measure impact by body language or even what people say afterwards, and so I have to let all of that go.
Trump upped his rhetoric about the service in a Truth Social post, calling Budde's speech nasty and saying she owes an apology to the public.
Collection
[
|
...
]