Washington National Cathedral Bishop Pleads With Trump to ‘Have Mercy’ on LGBTQ+ Community and Illegal Immigrants — Watch
A worship service held at Washington National Cathedral Tuesday culminated in Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde confronting President Donald Trump and pleading with him to “have mercy” on illegal immigrants and members of the LGBTQ+ community as he begins his second term.
The bishop’s plea was broadcast by C-SPAN. The network kept a camera on POTUS and Vice President JD Vance, highlighting their real-time reactions to her sermon.
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“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,” she began. “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. 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. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, udara and temples.
“I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, 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 and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here,” Rev. Budde continued. “Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we will all want 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 — good of all people in this nation and the world.”
Following his return to the White House, Trump offered his terse review of the service. “Not too exciting,” he remarked. “I didn’t think it was a good service.”
Watch Rev. Budde’s address to President Trump below:
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