A bishop leading the US President’s inauguration prayer on Tuesday made a direct appeal to President Donald Trump, asking him to “have mercy” on the LGBT community and migrant workers who are in the United States illegally.
The Right Reverend Marian Edgar Budd, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, spoke directly to Trump as he and Vice President J.D. Vance sat in the front row.
“Allow me to make a final appeal, Mr. President,” the bishop said in her 15-minute sermon. “Millions have placed their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the hand of providence from a loving God. In the name of God I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are feeling afraid now.
“There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, and some of them fear for their lives.”
The call to protect immigrants and respect gay rights came just one day after Trump announced, in his inauguration speech, that there are only two sexes in America and signed executive orders to suppress immigrants and abolish transgender rights.
On Monday, Trump launched a wide-ranging campaign against immigration, assigned the US military to help with border security, issued a broad ban on asylum, and took steps to restrict the citizenship of children born on US soil.
But Buddy defended them, highlighted the work they do in the country, and reminded Trump that most of them are on the right side of the law.
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“The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who work in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash dishes after eating in restaurants and work night shifts in hospitals may not be citizens or have the right to be.” She added: “The documents are correct, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”
“I ask you, Mr. President, to have mercy on those in our communities whose children fear their parents will be taken from them, and to help those fleeing zones of war and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us to be merciful to the stranger.
After returning to the White House, Trump said, “I don’t think it was a good service” and “they could have done a much better job.” But later, in an overnight post on his social media site, Truth Social, he harshly criticized the “so-called bishop” as a “Trump-hating extremist extremist leftist” and demanded an apology.
She brought her church into politics in a very inappropriate way. “Her tone was bad, and she was not persuasive or intelligent,” said Trump, a Republican, adding that Boddy did not mention that some immigrants came to the United States and killed people.
@realDonaldTrump / Social Truth
“Aside from her inappropriate remarks, the service was very boring and uninspiring. She’s not very good at her job!” Trump said. “She and her church owe the public an apology!”
The Washington National Cathedral service focused largely on national unity. Trump, Vance and their families attended, along with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth.
Washington National Cathedral hosted 10 official inaugural prayer services for the presidents of both major political parties. The tradition dates back to 1933.
The most recent service had a different focus from previous services. Its focus was on the nation rather than the new administration, a plan drawn up before Election Day.
“We are at a unique moment in our country’s history, and it is time to approach this differently,” the Rev. Randy Hollerith, dean of the Episcopal Cathedral, said in an October 2024 statement. “This will be a service to all Americans, to the well-being of our nation, and to our democracy.”
Bishop Marian Edgar Budde (L) arrives as US President Donald Trump looks on during the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral on January 21, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Tuesday marks Trump’s first full day in his second term in the White House.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Budd, who preached this year’s sermon, joined other cathedral leaders in previously criticizing Trump, rebuking his “racist rhetoric” and blaming him for inciting violence on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to… To keep him in power.
Budd was “livid” in 2020 after Trump appeared outside St. John’s Episcopal Church near the White House. The Bible was raised after the area was cleared of peaceful protesters.
—With files from Reuters and The Associated Press
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