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Liberal Bishop Uses Political Sermon to Go After Trump at National Prayer Service

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  January 22, 2025 11:15 AM

On Tuesday, during the National Prayer Service that President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and their families participated in, Episcopalian Bishop Mariann Budde, went for a completely inappropriate move in making her sermon particularly political as a way to go after the president, whom she addressed directly. 

"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 upon the people in our country who are scared now," she said, though she would still speak for a few more minutes to go on her political rant. "There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children and Democratic, Independent, and Republican families, some who fear for their lives."

That she would bring up children, especially children who are supposedly "transgender," is especially shameful. She leaves out that minors go through procedures they cannot legally consent to, such as hormone therapy which carries its own harmful side effects, in addition to sterilization and/or genital mutilation. 

Laws in place to prevent this are meant to protect these children from the abuse that adults who are supposed to be looking after them would put them through. The U.S. Supreme Court just last month heard oral arguments in a case from Tennessee as to whether states can pass such laws.

There are far too many horror stories about those who regret the transition process they endured as children, and we now know far too much, such as how those children struggling with gender identity largely grow out of it. Further, there's far too many harmful side effects and such procedures to transition children don't actually help them, though a biased doctor withheld a taxpayer-funded study showing as much. 

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Once she was done with using the pulpit for such a political rant on LGBTQ+ issues, which the previous Biden-Harris administration prioritized with such an obsession, Budde also turned to discussing immigration. Her "plea" about how to take advantage of vulnerable children wasn't her "final plea" after all.

"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, 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. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, and temples," she claimed going for the typical stereotypes about immigrants.

Writing about the sermon for our sister site of RedState, Bonchie was spot on in addressing such a point:

I know left-wingers can't grasp this, but Hispanic people are good for more than doing menial labor jobs that affluent, white female Episcopalian "bishops" don't want to do. Still, the fact that some illegal immigrants perform low-skilled labor does not invalidate a nation's laws, nor does it make it right to break them. God teaches us to be merciful to others in our individual lives. He doesn't teach to blatantly violate the law while doing so. 

If immigrants had crossed here illegally, they'd have committed a crime. The Biden-Harris administration left the borders wide open, and the American people were sick and tired of the violent crime that they brought with them. As Trump himself reminded on Monday, he made immigration his top issue during the campaign.

"I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will taken away and that you help those who are fleeing warzones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here," she continued, before trying to actually add some religion in there. "Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love, and walk humbly with each other and our God for the good of all people, the good of all people in this nation and the world."

It's always worth wondering if such figures are pro-life on abortion when they talk about "the dignity of every human being," as Budde does here. Budde herself wrote a piece on May 23, 2019, posted to the Episcopal Diocese of Washington that managed to say a whole lot of nothing. 

That's because the church itself says a whole lot of nothing on abortion. Their leaders waffled on the issue. As Budde's piece quotes when it comes to the church's summary, "...the General Convention of The Episcopal Church recognizes the moral, legal, personal, and societal complexity of the issue [of abortion]. The diversity of views within the Church represents our common struggle to understand and discern this issue."

As if Budde's sermon wasn't enough, the Episcopal Church on Tuesday also put out a statement from church leaders on Trump's immigration executive orders. The statement read in part that they "read this news [of executive orders on immigration] with concern..."

While this move was predictably cheered by liberals, it was sharply decried by others. Many others also highlighted Trump and Vance's fitting reactions.

While weighing in on NewsNation on Tuesday night, T.W. Arrighi, a former congressional aide, underscored the setting of the event and how inappropriate it was. "That is the National Cathedral, that is an event to pray for our nation and the incoming president." 

He also criticized Budde for her sermon, adding, "and that bishop selfishly lectured the incoming president of the United States about a policy decision that he makes, which is removing people who crossed our border illegally, starting with violent criminals. That's what she chose to do."

He also contrasted her sermon to prayers and convocation from other religious leaders. "It was a massive swing and a miss, I think it makes her look vain--that's a deadly sin in my book--I think you would not see that from Timothy Dolan who gave the prayer [Monday] at the inauguration. So yeah, very disrespectful in my opinion," Arrighi added. 


Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who is himself an immigrant from Columbia, was particularly incensed. 

"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 pointed out about Budde's sermon. "If you don't have borders, then you don't have a country."

Budde happens to be appearing on "The View" today, where she'll no doubt bash Trump some more.