On Jan. 22, 2025, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, Mariann Edgar Budde, was interviewed on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show to discuss the criticism and praise she has received following her National Prayer Service sermon on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at the Washington National Cathedral. She fearlessly addressed the fear that marginalized communities are experiencing due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s new policies.
Rev. Budde, the spiritual leader for 86 congregations and ten Episcopal schools in Washington D.C. and the first woman elected to the position, delivered her 15-minute sermon only hours after Trump signed the anti-trans executive order “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” declaring the U.S. federal government would only recognize “two sexes, male and female.” Fearlessly choosing to address the impact of Trump’s executive order (essentially outlawing trans identities) on the LGBTQIA+ community and his administration’s new anti-immigrant policies (e.g., reinstating the “Remain in Mexico” policy and suspending the CBP One app that facilitates immigration proceedings) in the last moments of the sermon, she directly addressed Trump about how his policies are causing widespread fear across marginalized communities.
“Let me make one final plea, Mr. President,” Budde said in the sermon’s final moments. Then, looking directly at the president, she continued:
“Millions have put their trust in you. And as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. 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. 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. They pay taxes, and are good neighbors.”
The pro-queer and pro-immigrant message of the sermon has been widely shared online. Predictably, this has angered America’s 47th president and his MAGA supporters, with Georgia U.S. Rep. Mike Collins taking to X (formerly Twitter) to say that the American-born Budde should be “added to the deportation list.”
After midnight on Wednesday, Jan. 22, Trump reacted to the message of her sermon on his Truth Social account, calling Rev. Budde a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater” and accusing her of bringing “her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way.” Despite the reverend’s message of empathetic understanding, loving-kindness, and mercy, he also labeled her tone as “nasty” (hmm, is this history repeating itself?) and called her “not compelling or smart.”
Trump’s Truth social post continued, “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. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA.”
In addition to implying that Rev. Budde’s cries for compassion were based on falsehoods, the president labeled the inaugural prayer service as “inappropriate” and her sermon as “boring and uninspiring.” He added, “She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!” The backlash has extended beyond Trump’s Truth Social comments, with the administration choosing to send someone to invalidate Rev. Budde’s position on Fox News. Despite the Trump administration’s criticism of her sermon, the bishop said she doesn’t need to apologize. “I don’t feel there’s a need to apologize for a request for mercy,” she told NPR.
Rev. Budde explains her decision to address President Trump directly
During her Rachel Maddow Show interview, Budde told the MSNBC host, who praised the Reverand for “[speaking] the truth to power,” why she decided to use her sermon to appeal to Trump, his administration, and citizens emboldened by his administration’s anti-immigrant, anti-trans stance to try to have mercy and compassion for those negatively impacted by the policy changes. “Toward the end of my preparation,” said Rev. Budde, “it struck me that I was missing one [pillar of unity], and that one, that last one, was mercy—to have mercy and compassion.”
She elaborated, “I wanted to make…a plea, a request that he broaden his characterization of the people that are frightened now and are at risk of losing everything.”Despite Rev. Budde’s hope that she would “encourage a different kind of conversation,” a.k.a. a more respectful discourse, she also revealed during her Rachel Maddow Show interview that Trump’s supporters have told her that they wish she would die. Specifically, she told Rachel Maddow, “I’ve had people wish me dead. I’m not sure they’ve threatened to kill me, but they seemed to be pleased if I met my eternal destiny sooner rather than later.”
“We don’t have to go to the highest extremes of contempt when we are in a position of disagreement,” she added. “I think, if we could get that back as a country, we would go a long way in being able to work together to address the many problems that we face.” Watch the full MSNBC interview with Maddow and Rev. Budde below:
Published: Jan 29, 2025 05:24 am