Recalling Trump’s claim during his inauguration yesterday that he was “saved by God” after a bullet hit his ear in an assassination attempt in July, Budde asked Trump, who was seated in the church with members of his family, “to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.”
Following is the full text of that part of Bishop Budde’s sermon which she directed to Trump.
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 meatpacking 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, gurdwara, and temples.
I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear 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, the good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen.
Later in the day Democratic strategist Keith Edwards applauded Bishop Budde’s decision to speak directly to the president, calling her “incredibly brave.”
Bishop Budde “confronted Trump’s fascism to his face,” he said on the social media platform Bluesky.
Related Off-site Links:
Bishop Confronts Trump During Sermon at Inaugural Prayer Service – Jason DeRose and Sarah Ventre (NPR News, January 21, 2025).
“Incredibly Brave” Bishop Asks Trump to Halt Attacks on Immigrants and Trans People – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, January 21, 2025).
“People Are Afraid”: Immigrant Communities Brace for Raids and Mass Deportation Under Trump – Democracy Now! (January 21, 2025).
Immigrant Rights Groups Sue Trump Over Attack on Birthright Citizenship, a “Cornerstone of Our Democracy” – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, January 21, 2025).
Impact of Trump Immigration Crackdown Is Swift as Advocates Vow to Fight Back – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, January 20, 2025).
Migrants Left in Despair at the Border as Asylum System Shuts Down – Eyder Peralta and Lexie Schapitl (NPR News, January 20, 2025).
ACLU’s Chase Strangio: Trump’s Anti-Trans Executive Orders Threaten LGBTQ+ People While Claiming to Defend Women – Democracy Now! (January 21, 2025).
Trump Has Pledged an Era of Spectacular Violence. We Can’t Be Passive Onlookers – Khury Petersen-Smith (Truthout, January 19, 2025).
Solidarity Will See Us Through the Second Trump Term – Liza Featherstone (Common Dreams, January 20, 2025).
We Must Keep a Progressive Vision of the Future Alive in the Trump Era – Bernie Sanders (Common Dreams, January 20, 2025).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Inauguration Day Thoughts
• Democrat Talk on the Eve of Trump’s Return
• The Lamentable Legacy of the Biden Administration
• Signs of the Times: The 2025 People’s March
• Progressive Perspectives on Where Democrats Went Wrong in the 2024 Election
• Will We Let Fascism Come to America?
• Jeff Sharlet on the Fascist Ideology of Donald Trump
• Accounting for the Backlash
• Angela Kade Goepferd on the “Manufactured Controversy” Targeting Gender-Affirming Care
• The Bigger Box of Crayons We All Deserve
• Judith Butler on the Reactionary Movement and Fascist Trend Opposed to Diverse Ideas About Gender
• Trans 101
• Lisa Leff on Five Things to Know About Transgender People
• Something to Think About – July 4, 2023
• “What We’re Seeing Here Is a Tipping Point”
• Opposing the Trump Administration’s Inhumane Treatment of Immigrant Families
• The Historical Context of the Trump Administration’s “Pathologically Sick” Anti-Immigrant Agenda
• Something to Think About – June 14, 2018
• On International Human Rights Day, Saying “No” to Donald Trump and His Fascist Agenda
• Quote of the Day – March 12, 2018
• 2000+ Take to the Streets of Minneapolis to Express Solidarity with Immigrants and Refugees
• Trump’s America: Normalized White Supremacy and a Rising Tide of Racist Violence
• Something to Think About – May 19, 2012
• A Little Something for Columbus Day
• May Day 2007
Image: The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the inaugural interfaith prayer service on January 21, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: C-Span)
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