‘Unapologetically Liberal’ Episcopal Priestess Asks Trump for ‘Mercy’ on LGBTQ Children at National Prayer Service

Mariann Budde, the anti-Trump Episcopal bishop of Washington, DC, who the Washington Post once described as “unapologetically liberal,” used her platform at the National Prayer Service to call on Trump to have “mercy” on LGBTQ children, some of whom she said  “fear for their lives.”

Budde made her plea to Trump in a lengthy address at the Washington National Cathedral.

“In the name of our God, I ask you 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,” she said.

Budde then went on to ask for mercy for illegal immigrants, claiming the “vast majority of them are not criminals.”

And the people, 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 may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.

Trump, his family, and Vice President Vance had priceless facial reactions as Budde carried out her lecture.

Budde has a history of attacking Trump. After St. John’s Episcopal Church, which is one of Budde’s churches, was set ablaze during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020, Trump walked over to the church and posed in front of it with his bible.

At the time, Budde expressed outrage over Trump but not the fire that reportedly inflicted $20,000 in damages.

“I am outraged,” she told the Washington Post.

“I am the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and was not given even a courtesy call, that they would be clearing [the area] with tear gas so they could use one of our churches as a prop,” Budde added.

She bashed Trump in another interview with CBS News.

“He took the symbols sacred to our tradition and stood in front of a house of prayer in full expectation that would be a celebratory moment,” she told the outlet.

In June 2020, she also told ABC News, “I’ve given up speaking to President Trump,” adding “We need to replace President Trump.”

Budde, who the Post dubbed “unapologetically liberal” in 2011, is also a Democrat donor. She gave former President Barack Obama $250 for his 2012 campaign.

Additionally, in 2017, she, along with Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith and then-Cathedral Chapter Chair John Donoghue, announced the deconsecration and removal of the stained glass windows of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson from the cathedral. The web page announcing the release has since been deleted from the cathedral’s website.

Budde faced an avalanche of criticism for her divisive sermon. 

“[Budde] was given a great honor today, a chance to unify America around a Christian message at the dawn of a new administration. Instead, she disgraced herself with a lecture you’d hear on CNN or an episode of The View,” wrote Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk in a post on X. 

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who is a legal immigrant from Columbia, called the lecture “outrageous.” 

“As a Catholic & legal immigrant, it’s outrageous that some woke Bishop would lecture President Tump about deporting illegals. It’s an insult to all of us who came to this country the right way,” he wrote in a post on X. 

Donald Trump Jr. concurred.

“This is exactly right and the immigrants who actually worked their asses off for years to come here LEGALLY, learn English and assimilate into our culture understand it better than anyone else!” he wrote, quoting Moreno’s tweet.

Collin Rugg shared a video of Budde’s sermon, writing, “These people are absolutely nuts.”

Graham Allen, the host of the Dear America podcast and a Turning Point USA contributor, called Budde “a religious pretender.”

“This is what a religious pretender looks like. Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde attacked Trump and told him to ‘have mercy’ on gay, lesbian and transgender children and illegal immigrants,” Allen wrote. “President Trump rolled his eyes.”

Worship singer Sean Feucht called the cathedral the “wokest church I’ve ever been to in my life!!!” in a post on X.

“I cancel every word of Mariann Edgar Budde in Jesus name!! We are going to have a REAL Born-again, faith filled church service after this mess!” he added.

The organization CatholicVote slammed Budde.

“Liberal Protestant Pastor Mariann Edgar Budde blindsides Trump and Vance, weaponizing her sermon to attack them in front of their families by saying they should ‘have mercy’ on gay, lesbian, and transgender children,” the group wrote. “Unbelievable.”