WATCH: Trump and Vance roll their eyes as leftist preacher rants about transgenders at prayer service
A leftist ideologue who preaches at the Washington National Cathedral Tuesday ranted about transgenders and illegal aliens to President Trump, who had gone to the iconic church in the nation’s capital for a prayer service.
The bipartisan interfaith prayer service just got political as pastor pleas for Trump to have mercy on “scared” LGBT children and illegal immigrants pic.twitter.com/TM0Rnf4KEh
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) January 21, 2025
Online reports said Trump and Vice President JD Vance were “blindsided” by the political activism in the National Prayer Service.
It was Marianne Budde, a bishop at the church, who “unleashed a wild sermon claiming trans kids were ‘fearing for their lives’ due to him being in the Oval Office,” according to a Daily Mail report.
It said Trump “was left is disbelief as he was forced to listen to a woke bishop.”
“Trump sat stony-faced in the front row, next to First Lady Melania Trump, as the bishop claimed some people in America were afraid following his election.” The report said.
Her diatribe:
“I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country that 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 might not be citizens or have the proper documentation. 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 and Vance visibly rolled their eyes during the remarks.
WATCH:
The report noted Trump showed no reaction, but “other members of the congregation looked uncomfortable.”
When asked later Tuesday what he thought of the church service, Trump replied: “Not too exciting, was it? I didn’t think it was a good service. They can do much better.”
President Trump following National Prayer Service: “Not too exciting, was it. I didn’t think it was a good service. No…They can do much better.” pic.twitter.com/iNpWGKaXhN
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 21, 2025
Additonally, the report said, Trump declined to criticize Budde, but others didn’t hesitate.
“The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list,” said Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., on social media.
Budde, the report said, is notorious for calling, during President Trump’s first term, for him to be replaced.
She also inserts her “racial equity, gun violence prevention, immigration reform, the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons” and more ideologies into her speeches.