President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance looked visibly irritated during the national prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday when the sermon took a political turn.
Among the faith leaders who spoke was Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, who had been a vocal critic of Trump and the U.S. government following George Floyd’s death.
On Trump’s first full day back in office, Budde, of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, delivered a sermon focused on “unity,” but her remarks grew pointed when she brought up immigrants and LGBTQ youth.
The reverend spoke directly to the president, saying “Let me make one final plea, Mr. President, 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 on the people in our country who are scared. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic and Republican and Independent families, some who fear for their lives.”
President Donald Trump attends the national prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“And the people – the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meet packing plants, who wash the dishes at their restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they – 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,” Budde said. “They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues… and temples.”
The reverend asked Trump to have “mercy on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones of persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome, our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to a stranger.”
The vice president and second lady leaned over and whispered to one another during the sermon.
At the start of her remarks, Budde began to “pray for unity as people and nation, not for agreement, political or otherwise, but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good.”
“Unity, in this sense, is a threshold requirement for people to live in freedom and…
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