After Bishop Budde Pleaded with Trump to Have Mercy, Trump Called Her Nasty, Not Compelling or Smart.

What now, God's people? Is this okay with you?

Bishop Marianne Budde - Photo source: Washington National Cathedral, via Facebook

You saw it. So did I. During a prayer service invocation the day after the inauguration, Bishop Marianne Budde, the spiritual leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, took a moment to speak directly to the new president, pleading with him as he sat in the first row, right in her line of sight, to have mercy on the innocents who will surely be harmed by so many of his promised threats, his ruthless shows of power.

It’s true that Bishop Budde has a history of saying out loud the things that grind her about Trump’s ‘Christian’ sacrilege, those things that have to grind most true religious leaders but are largely, sadly, left unsaid. She spoke out in an op-ed in June, 2020, after George Floyd’s murder, when Trump pushed his weight around, sending police to pepper-spray protesters and shoot them with rubber bullets, to get them out of the way so he could walk to a church where he wasn’t invited and hold up a bible to show, I don’t know…his righteous right to be there? (I wrote about the event here.)

She let it be known Trump didn’t deserve to be president then, and I doubt she’s changed her mind now. She has always made a point to let it be known she isn’t a fan. So maybe Trump didn’t know that when she took the pulpit and began to speak? We can thank his bad memory or his handler’s poor research skills for what followed. We got to watch Trump, his family, and members of his official regime squirm as Bishop Budde spoke, without interference or catcalls, the authentic, perfect words below:

“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.

“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, gurudwaras 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.

“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. Good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen”

Full video here:

I watched those people watch Bishop Budde as she spoke those words and for one fleeting moment, I thought they might get it.

That Trump might get it.

That he would figure out a way to say no to those terrible things he’d planned to do to innocent people who should—she was right— have a chance to live their lives in peace.

That on that very day everything would change.

Boy, was I wrong! The good Rev. Budde is on a whole lot of shit lists now. MAGA is mad! You can’t speak to their hero like that! No, you can’t!

And, of course, Trump himself couldn’t just let it go. No, he couldn’t. He got all ‘presidential’ on us, as only he can, and this is what he said. This is what the world read. This is how he’ll be remembered whenever this subject comes up:

I put this here today, not because I think I’m telling you something you don’t already know. Of course you do. No, it’s here because I want a record of it. I want to be able to go back to this in case I might forget how truly terrible Donald Trump is at presidenting, or even at being an adult.

I want to be able to pull up both Bishop Budde’s heartbreaking, inspiring plea for even an ounce of humanity from the man who now claims the American presidency, along with Trump’s snarly, childish, embarrassing response. I want them forever to be seen together.

It won’t ever make sense, but this is our reality now. He is who he is, but so are we. He won’t change us. He won’t change Bishop Budde. In an interview with Time Magazine she said this:

Trump called you a "Radical left hard line Trump hater." What's your response to that?

I don't hate President Trump. I strive not to hate anyone and I dare say that I am not of the 'radical left' either, whatever that means. That is not who I am.

He said you're not very good at your job.

That is for other people to judge, and so he is certainly entitled to his opinion.

And he said you should apologize. Will you apologize?

I am not going to apologize for asking for mercy for others.

Have you received threats? Do you feel in danger?

The real people who are in danger are those who are fearful of being deported. The real people who are in danger are the young people who feel they cannot be themselves and be safe and who are prone to all kinds of both external attacks and suicidal responses to them. So I think we should keep our eyes on the people who are really vulnerable in our society. I have a lot of support and a lot of safety around me, so no, I'm not feeling personally at risk. Although people have said they do wish me dead, and that's a little heartbreaking. It was a pretty mild sermon. It certainly wasn't a fire and brimstone sermon. It was as respectful and as universal as I could with the exception of making someone who has been entrusted with such enormous influence and power to have mercy on those who are most vulnerable.

Anything else?

I think it's all of us, you know. I think it's not about me. It's about the kind of country we are called to be. And that's what I did my best to try and speak to, to present an alternative to the culture of contempt, and to say that we can bring multiple perspectives into a common space and do so with dignity and respect. And that we need that, and the culture of contempt is threatening to destroy us. And I'm getting a little bit of a taste of that this week.

So there it is. I have it here now.

More to come from the brat-in-residence, I’m sure.

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