The fervent appeal made by Rev.Mariann Edgar Budde from the pulpit to President Donald Trump to “have mercy” on undocumented migrants and the LGBTQ+ community is something that will remain etched in modern political history.
The sermon from the pulpit of the Washington National Cathedral on January 21, 2025, in the presence of Trump, vice president JD Vance and their family members among the gathering reminds one of the 1981 rock anthem Don’t Stop Believin’ by the now-defunct band, Journey.
Lead vocalist Steve Perry’s high-pitched cry Don't stop believin’ Hold on to that feelin’ came alive with the reverend, against all odds, decided to keep believing and not give up and bluntly asked the President for “mercy” for those who have been living in fear following his return to White House
She, for sure, didn’t stop believing in herself, her country and the larger humanity faced with severe odds with Trump generating hourly shockwaves with his decisions.
The 65-year-old Episcopal bishop didn’t mince words in telling Trump on his face: “In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country. And we're scared now.”
“There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families -- some who fear for their lives,” she went on reminding the President, risking criticism that her’s was a political speech and not a sermon.
Trump and his team sat through the sermon with no escape window open.
But trust the man to hit back, which he did by calling Budde a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater” who is “not very good at her job.”
Yes, the real-estate-tycoon-turned-President is the best judge to evaluate the clergywoman.
He even demanded an apology since she “brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way.”
The only critical words he heard during his first full day in office in the second non-consecutive term, the reverend’s words did hit Trump where it hurts.
“I am not going to apologise” - Rev.Mariann Edgar Budde
The pushback of sorts against his already-infamous policies, with more in the making, has had its impact on Trump.
But a resolute Budde has ruled out an apology. “I am not going to apologise,” she declared, ending any chance of a redemption for the Republican President who was clearly taken by surprise by Budde.
From the pulpit and out of it, Budde, the first woman to helm the Episcopal Diocese of Washington literally set the tone for others to pick up from where she left.
Her sermon that immigrants are “not criminals” but “good neighbours” and “faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara and temples” would be remembered for long, especially with right-wing hardliners like Trump in power.
But Budde had clashed with Trump in the past.
She had called him out in 2020 during his first tenure when he held up a copy of the Bible for a photo op at St John’s Episcopal church in Washington, after federal officers cleared protestors demonstrating against the death of George Floyd.
In her article published by New York Times in June 2020, Budde wrote that Trump had “used sacred symbols to cloak himself in the mantle of spiritual authority, while espousing positions antithetical to the Bible that he held in his hands.”
The same month she told ABC News, “We need to replace President Trump.”
Hence, the question. Didn’t Trump expect such a stonewalling from Budde from the pulpit of theWashington National Cathedral?
For the reverend, the sermon was another way to tell the American people Don’t Stop Believin’ as the world is yet to get a grip on the implications of a second Trump tenure in White House.
So glad we have bravehearts like Rev.Mariann Edgar Budde who dare to be politically incorrect. Hope clergymen elsewhere too take a leaf out of Budde's book and use their authority and position to stand up for what is right.