Woke bishop Mariann Budde pleaded with Americans to have a ‘different kind of conversation’ about tackling hot-button issues as she revealed she has received death threats following her political sermon to President Trump.
Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that she faced a wave of outrage in the aftermath of her speech at Tuesday’s National Prayer Service.
‘Well, I’ve had people wish me dead,’ she said.
‘I’m not sure they’ve threatened to kill me, but they’d seem to be pleased if I met my eternal destiny sooner rather than later. And I would simply say, I was trying, actually, to encourage a different kind of conversation that you can certainly disagree with me.’
Budde said while she can accept people disagreeing with her perspective, she would ask that ‘we as Americans and fellow children of God speak to one another with respect.’
‘I would offer the same to you. I would listen to your views, and I would honor them. But we don’t have to go to the highest extremes of contempt when we are in a position of disagreement.
‘And I think if we could get that back as a country, we would go a long way in being able to work together to address the many problems that we face.’
It comes after President Trump issued a scathing rebuke of Budde with a 1am Truth Social post overnight, slamming her as ‘not compelling or smart’ and demanding an apology to the public.
Mariann Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, pleaded with Americans to have a ‘different kind of conversation’ about tackling hot-button issues as she revealed she received death threats following her political sermon to President Trump
Budde angered conservatives with her sermon at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday as she pleaded with President Trump to show ‘mercy’ to illegal immigrants and transgender children
In her interview with Maddow, Budde said she decided to give the political sermon during her preparation for the National Prayer Service, and she was thinking about the ‘pillars of unity.’
‘It struck me that I was missing one. And that one, that last one, was mercy, to have mercy and compassion,’ she continued.
‘And rather than stated in sweeping turns, I thought I would acknowledge to the President, acknowledge that he had come to the highest office of the land, that he had millions of people had entrusted him with his power.
‘And I wanted to make, as you heard, a plea, a request that he broaden his characterization of the people that are frightened now and are at risk of losing everything, and I thought that that would be the more respectful way to say it.
‘And also, to appeal to not only the president but to all who might be listening, to appeal to what we know to be true about our immigrant neighbors, who they are, the kind of people that we’re blessed to be among and to remember them in our understanding of what it means to be America.’
Asked how she sees the role of the church in reshaping how Americans look ahead to the future, Budde said she hoped to lead ‘by example.’
‘To take the teachings of our faith, to welcome the stranger, to love as we’ve been loved, to be compassionate and to live that out in in real terms with real people in our communities.
‘It depends on the moment, we’re in a particularly harsh moment now when it comes to conversations around immigrant populations in our midst, and so that was the reason for the tone I took now.’
Budde, 65, the left-wing Episcopal Bishop of Washington, later admitted that she used the religious event to ‘talk directly’ to Trump in her sermon
Trump sat stony-faced throughout the sermon delivered by Bishop Mariann Budde at Tuesday’s National Prayer Service as she begged him to grant ‘mercy’ on transgender children and illegal immigrants
Budde spoke out after Trump slammed her in a post to Truth Social to his legion of followers, describing her as a ‘radical left hardline Trump hater.’
‘She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.’
After Budde used her sermon to beg Trump for ‘mercy’ towards transgender children and illegal immigrants, Trump said her argument ignored reality.
‘She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people,’ he went on. ‘Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA.
‘Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!’
Budde’s sermon went viral on Tuesday after she went on a wild lecture claiming trans kids were ‘fearing for their lives’ now Trump is back in the White House.
Trump said in brief remarks at the White House that Budde ‘could have been much better’ in response to her sermon on Tuesday
Trump sat stone-faced in the front row, next to First Lady Melania Trump, as the prelate told him illegal immigrants were ‘not criminals’, and he shouldn’t deport those with children.
Budde begged Trump to grant ‘mercy upon the people in our country that are scared now’, invoking the bible as she said ‘God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger.’
‘There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families, some who fear for their lives,’ she continued.
Moving onto illegal immigrants, a central issue on Trump’s victorious presidential platform, Budde urged him not to follow through with his mass deportation plans.
‘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 might not be citizens or have the proper documentation,’ she said.
‘The vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. I ask you to have mercy Mr. President on those in communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away.’
Trump didn’t react to the pointed message as he sat staring at Budde, although others in his group, including new Vice President JD Vance, wore a more telling expression on their faces.
Speaking to reporters at the White House shortly after the service, Trump was more reserved than his Truth Social rebuke, but said briefly that he thought Budde ‘could have been much better.’
As Budde’s sermon drew outrage from conservatives who questioned her decision to politicize the religious service, Republican Congressman Mike Collins said on X: ‘The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list.’
Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno also waded in to condemn Budde, saying on X: ‘As a Catholic and legal immigrant, it’s outrageous that some woke Bishop would lecture President Trump about deporting illegals.
‘It’s an insult to all of us who came to this country the right way. If you don’t have borders, then you don’t have a country.’
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who was seen celebrating the inauguration with the Trump family on Monday night, branded Budde’s lecture an ’embarrassment.’
‘She was given a great honor today, a chance to unify America around a Christian message at the dawn of a new administration,’ he said on X.
‘Instead, she disgraced herself with a lecture you’d hear on CNN or an episode of The View.’
