President Donald Trump was left in disbelief as he was forced to listen to a woke bishop deliver a stunningly negative sermon calling for him to show ‘mercy’ to illegal immigrants and transgender children.
On the first full day of Trump’s presidency Marianne Budde, a left-wing Episcopal bishop, unleashed a wild lecture claiming trans kids were ‘fearing for their lives’ due to him being in the Oval Office.
Trump sat stony-faced in the front row, next to First Lady Melania Trump, as the bishop told him illegal immigrants were not criminals and he shouldn’t deport those with children.
Bishop Budde, 65, addressed Trump directly in a highly political speech from the pulpit during a prayer service at Washington National Cathedral.
She told Trump: ‘I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country that are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families, some who fear for their lives.’
The bishop then asked Trump to have mercy on illegal immigrants.
She said: ‘The people who pick our crops, and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants, and work the night shifts in hospitals, they might not be citizens or have the proper documentation.
‘The vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. I ask you to have mercy Mr. President on those in communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away.’
Trump showed no reaction and looked on wearily after a full day and night of Inauguration festivities. Other members of the congregation looked uncomfortable.
U.S. President Donald Trump stands near Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde as he attends the National Day of Prayer Service at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, U.S., January 21, 2025.
Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump, first lady Melania and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance with second lady Usha attend the National Day of Prayer Service
But the bishop continued her stunning pro-migrant lecture, adding: ‘Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger for we were all strangers once in land.’
Later, Trump declined to criticize the bishop.
Asked about the service by reporters at the White House, Trump said: ‘What did you think, did you like it? Did you find it exciting? Not too exciting was it. I think it was a great service.’
However, Republicans and MAGA supporters eviscerated the bishop.
‘The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list,’ wrote Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) on social media.
Budde champions leftist causes through her ministry.
On her diocesan website, she boasts of serving as ‘an advocate and organizer in support of justice concerns, including racial equity, gun violence prevention, immigration reform, the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons, and the care of creation.’
She also has a long history of criticizing President Trump during his first term.
That included after after he stood next to an Episcopal church holding a Bible after clearing protesters out of Lafayette Square near the White House during the Black Lives Matter protests.
At the time, she said that Trump’s actions were ‘antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and everything that we as a church stand for.’
She also condemned Trump while attending an outdoor Black Lives Matter protest in 2020, wearing a mask during the coronavirus pandemic.
‘I’ve given up speaking to President Trump. We need to replace President Trump,’ she said then.