President Donald Trump has demanded an apology from the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the bishop who leads the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, after she asked him, during her sermon at the National Prayer Service Tuesday, to have "mercy" on immigrants and gay and transgender children.
"The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater," Trump said in a Truth Social post early Wednesday morning. "She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart."
Earlier Tuesday, Budde, nearing the end of her sermon, spoke directly to Trump, who was seated at the front of the church with Vice President JD Vance, their wives, and members of his family.
“Millions have put their trust in you. 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,” Budde said. "There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives.”
She added that the vast majority of immigrants are "not criminals" but they "pay taxes and are good neighbors."
"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," she said. "Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land."
But, Trump said in his post that Budde "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."
He added: "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!"
Budde, in an interview, said she decided to speak directly to the president because "of the fear that I have seen and experienced among our people — people that I know and love, both within the immigrant community and within the LGBTQ community, and how terrified so many are," reported The New York Times.
The bishop has spoken out against Trump before, including in a New York Times opinion piece in 2020 when she wrote she was outraged by his appearance at Washington's St. John's Church "for political purposes" after having Black Lives Matters protesters cleared out of nearby Lafayette Park.
Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., slammed Budde for her homily statements, posting a clip of her comments on X and calling for her to be deported.
"The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list," the congressman said.
Budde, the bishop of Washington since November 2011, was born in New Jersey in 1959. Her mother was an immigrant from Sweden.