President Trump said the bishop who lectured him to have mercy on LGTBQ+ individuals and immigrant families at the Washington National Cathedral prayer service owes the public an apology.
“The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart,” Mr. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post early Wednesday.
“She 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,” he said. “It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA. Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one.”
During the service on Tuesday, the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, called on Mr. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance from the pulpit 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,” Rev. Budde told them.
“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,” she said. “But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors.”
Mr. Trump said the bishop wasn’t “very good at her job” and that she and the church “owe the public an apology.”
The president and his family, along with Mr. Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, attended the inaugural prayer service. When Mr. Trump returned back to the White House after the service, it was clear that he was not pleased with the service. He told reporters that “they could do much better.”
Mr. Trump wasn’t the only person to comment on the bishop’s comments during the service. Rep Mike Collins, Georgia Republican, posted a video of the sermon on X, and said “the person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list.”
Some of Mr. Trump’s Day One executive orders included only recognizing male and female as the two sexes, and others on immigration, including ending birthright citizenship, deploying military to the border and reviving his “Remain in Mexico” policy that mandates those applying for asylum to wait in Mexico until their court date.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.