Trump condemns bishop’s call for mercy on immigrants, LGBTQ+, demands apology

The United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington after she urged him to “have mercy” on immigrants and LGBTQ people under his administration.

Budde had told Trump, who was seated in the church’s front pew for the customary inaugural service next to his wife Melania, “I ask you to have mercy, Mr President. There are gay and lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families.”

“The people who pick our farms 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 may not be citizens or have the proper documentation. But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals,” she added.

AFP reports that when asked what he thought about her remarks, Trump earlier said, “I didn’t think it was a good service.”

After attending the service at the Washington National Cathedral, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, “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,” Trump wrote without naming her.

“Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!” Trump added.