Trump faces rare rebuke as Bishop Budde lectures him in Church: 'Have mercy Mr President'

Donald Trump's second term as US president began with a flurry of sweeping policy decisions and a rare rebuke from the pulpit. On Tuesday (Jan 21), the Washington National Cathedral's Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde used the US president's traditional inaugural service to urge Trump to show "mercy" to vulnerable groups, including immigrants and the LGBT community.

This comes as on day one of office, Trump signed a slew of executive orders aimed at ending what the right-wing decries as "woke" culture.

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What did the bishop say to Trump?

As per an AFP report, speaking during the traditional prayer service that takes place on the morning after the Presidential inauguration, Budde called for Trump to have some "mercy".

"I ask you to have mercy, Mr President," the bishop said softly.

The Republican president, seated in the front pew alongside First Lady Melania Trump, appeared visibly displeased as Budde called for compassion. "There are gay and lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families," she said, highlighting the fears felt by many.

She also defended undocumented immigrants, describing them as essential workers who are "not criminals."

"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," she said, adding, "But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals."

Trump dismisses Bishop's plea

After the service, Trump dismissed the bishop's remarks, saying, "I didn't think it was a good service" and suggesting "They could do much better."

Watch what he said here:

This unanticipated confrontation came as the newly inaugurated President of the United States (POTUS) repealed multiple Joe Biden-era executive orders promoting LGBTQ equality and issued an order decreeing the legality of only two genders.

Trump, who during his campaign trail had vilified diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in the federal government, in an order ending them labelled them "immoral discrimination programs". He also ordered that the Trump administration only use "clear and accurate language and policies that recognise women are biologically female, and men are biologically male".

The new administration also pushed forward with controversial executive orders, including suspending the arrival of asylum seekers and expelling undocumented migrants.

Watch | US: Trump repeals rule allowing transgender troops to serve in military

Who is Mariann Edgar Budde?

Mariann Edgar Budde is the first woman to serve as the spiritual leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. She has been leading the diocese since 2011.

This is not the first time the bishop has spoken up against Trump. In 2020, during protests over the death of George Floyd, she wrote a scathing opinion piece criticising Trump's use of the Bible, which he held aloft at St. John’s Church after officers used tear gas against protesters calling for racial justice in nearby Lafayette Square. She wrote that she was "outraged" and "horrified" that the Republican leader "used sacred symbols" while "espousing positions antithetical to the Bible."

(With inputs from agencies)