The Rt Rev Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, has defended comments she made appealing to President Donald Trump for “mercy” on behalf of illegal immigrants and the LGBT community in a sermon where she mentioned “unity” while also claiming the president’s policies would “harm” trans-identified children LGBT families.
The 65-year-old bishop appeared on “The View” Wednesday morning to deal with the national controversy surrounding her recent comments at a prayer service attended by Trump.
The remarks, delivered during a Service of Prayer for the Nation at Washington National Cathedral, included a plea for Trump to have “mercy upon the people in our country who’re scared now,” including “gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families. Some who fear for his or her lives.”
“The individuals who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labour in poultry farms and meat-packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They is probably not residents, or have the correct documentation, however the overwhelming majority of immigrants aren’t criminals,” she said.
Speaking to the “The View” hosts, Bishop Budde said, “My responsibility yesterday morning was to reflect, to wish with the nation for unity. As I used to be pondering, what are the foundations of unity? I wanted to emphasise respecting the honour and dignity of each human being, basic honesty and humility.
“I also realized that unity requires a certain degree of mercy, compassion and understanding. So, knowing that lots of people … in our country without delay, are really scared, I desired to take the chance within the context of that service for unity; to say we want to treat everyone with dignity, and we must be merciful. I used to be attempting to counter the narrative that’s so divisive and polarizing, and during which people, real people, are being harmed.”
Trump, seated within the front row with first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance, reacted visibly throughout the remarks. When asked on “The View” about their reactions, Budde said she avoided specializing in their body language.
“I’ve long since given up attempting to read people’s reactions as I preach. … I had what I felt was on my heart to say, and I had to depart it to them, to all of us, to take from whatever … my words were, to listen to in whichever way they may, and leave, as they are saying, the remainder to God.”
The sermon ignited a powerful response from Trump, who criticized the service as “not good” and labelled Budde a “radical left, hardline Trump hater” on social media. He accused her of bringing politics into the church and demanded a public apology.
Budde dismissed the characterization as part of the present “culture of contempt,” saying, “We’re in a hyper-political climate. One of the things I caution about is the culture of contempt during which we live that immediately rushes to the worst possible interpretations of what persons are saying. … I used to be attempting to speak a truth that I felt needed to be said, but to do it in as respectful and type a way as I could, and in addition to bring other voices into the conversation … that had not been heard in the general public space for a while.”
The conversation on “The View” also touched on Trump’s policies, including the expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authority to enter traditionally protected spaces like churches, schools and hospitals, if warranted.
Budde called the erosion of churches as sanctuaries “heartbreaking,” claiming that while not encoded in law, it was an “unwritten policy” to respect places where people could seek safety.
“We have lots of churches in our particular denomination that meet the needs of immigrants and other vulnerable populations and we want now to be as special and mindful and to be certain that basic human rights are protected and folks’s needs could be met,” she said.
Budde also said that, if given the chance, she’d address the president directly: “I’ve never been invited right into a one-on-one conversation with President Trump, and I’d welcome that chance. I do not know how that may go. I can assure him and everybody listening that I can be as respectful as I’d with any person,” she said.
Budde, known for her progressive stances, previously criticized Trump in 2020 when he staged a photo-op at St. John’s Episcopal Church near the White House following a protest during which rioters torched a part of the church. At the time, she accused him of using the church and the Bible as props, a move she said “outraged” and “horrified” her, and was “antithetical to the teachings of Jesus.”
The National Cathedral’s interfaith service, a practice since 1933, included prayers from Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders, in addition to representatives from other faiths.
