History shows Bishop Budde did nothing wrong at Trump’s inaugural prayer service | Opinion
The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. is no stranger to the spotlight or to bold statements.
Suddenly it’s also no stranger to controversy.
It has hosted state funerals for Sen. John McCain and presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. It has hosted numerous national prayer services for the inaugural celebrations of many presidents, including Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937 and George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump twice.
In 1968, it was where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his last sermon before going to Memphis. “Human progress comes through the tireless efforts of dedicated individuals who are willing to be co-workers with God,” he said then.
In 2017, church leaders removed the ornate building’s memorial windows to Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson that had been donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy 64 years earlier.
In 2018, it interred the ashes of Matthew Shepard in the Cathedral crypt, 20 years after his murder in an anti-gay hate crime.
Last year church leaders ended a practice of planning inaugural prayer services with the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which let incoming presidents pick participants. The New York Times called it “a move toward religious independence, so the service itself would be free of partisan interference and so it would not be seen as a coronation or sacred anointing.”
All of this left Bishop Mariann Budde wondering what message to send at Trump’s inaugural prayer services on Tuesday. She had not drawn attention to herself when speaking at the event in 2017. But plenty of others had sent pointed messages to presidents at earlier prayer services.
Rev. Jesse Jackson got political when addressing President Bill Clinton during his inaugural prayer services in 1997, calling attention to gun violence inside the Metropolitan AME Church just days after Bill Cosby’s 27-year-old only son had been shot and killed in Los Angeles.
“Every parent harbors a secret terror, the infant that we nurture, the child we raise, the young men and women we launch into the earth, is ever at risk in this often too violent world,” he said.
“Dr. King, another Morehouse man, reminded us that none of us are safe until all of us are safe. Easter reminds us you need not be guilty to face execution. Yes, even the innocent die until we root out the culture of violence. It is not ours to understand but to keep the faith, humbled by the great blessings we have been granted, confident that even in the darkest night dawn cometh in the morning.”
Pastor Jack Hayford expressed his own wishes for new President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney – and all of us — in 2001: “Grant them patience, understanding and love as they care for your people. And grant us an equal fidelity and integrity that each of us offer ourselves and our talents and gifts for the good of our land and for all peoples and nations.”
Pastor Sharon E. Watkins offered Obama guidance in 2009: “We the nation that you serve need you to hold the ground of your deepest values, of our deepest values. Beyond this moment of high hopes, we need you to stay focused on our shared hopes so that we can continue to hope, too.… Someone has to stand watch and be ready to defend, and Mr. President, tag, you’re it.”
Bishop Harry Jackson addressed Trump in 2017, saying, “Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in Heaven and Earth, grant to the president, vice president and members of the cabinet wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties, that they may serve all people of this nation and promote the dignity and freedom of every person. Keep this nation under your care.”
And in 2021, Bishop William J. Barber II spoke of unity before President Joe Biden: “So gracious and great God, grant us as a people; grant us as an entire nation, grant our new president; grant our new vice president; grant every preacher; grant every politician; grant every person, Black and white, Latino, Native, Asian, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, person of faith, people not of faith but with a moral conscience, every human being created by God, documented or undocumented; gay, straight or trans, young or old. And what a day it will be when our children’s children call us what you have called us to be: repairers of the breach.”
So it was that Budde spoke directly to Trump on Tuesday.
“Let me make one final plea, Mr. President,” she said. “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. And 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, gurdwaras 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.”
Trump’s response was far less eloquent. Responding to a reporter’s question about his thoughts on the service, he said, “I didn’t think it was a good service” and “they could do much better.”
Then, at 12:39 a.m. Wednesday — yes, after midnight — he elaborated on his Truth Social account: “The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line 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. She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. 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!”
In case there is any doubt, no president has viciously attacked someone who prayed for him at his inaugural prayer service, someone whose perceived slight consisted of her asking him for mercy and who was basically doing what many religious leaders have asked of many presidents.
“The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list,” tweeted U.S. Rep Mike Collins, R-Georgia. Prominent Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress, who was at the cathedral for the service, tweeted, “Mariann Edgar Budde insulted rather than encouraged our great president @realDonaldTrump. There was palpable disgust in the audience with her words.”
Is this where we are in America? Is this who we are in America?
Are we OK with being cruel about … kindness?
A lot happened in President Donald Trump’s first week. More will happen in the weeks to come. But this vitriol cannot be tolerated. Budde did nothing wrong, as history clearly shows. Have mercy on her, Mr. President.
There are ways to disagree about politics without insulting a preacher’s God-given right to free speech.
What happened to us being co-workers?
This story was originally published January 26, 2025 at 6:00 AM.