Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, who called for President Donald Trump to “have mercy on the people in the country who are scared” during a sermon Tuesday, said she did it to speak on their behalf.
“These are the people that I know. These are not abstract people for me. These are actual people that I know. So I wanted to speak on their behalf. I wanted to present a vision of what unity can look like in this country that is transcending of differences and viewpoints and acknowledging our common humanity,” Budde told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Tuesday.
Buddle used her sermon at the National Cathedral’s interfaith service earlier Tuesday to plead with the president to have mercy on immigrants and members of the LGBTQ community.
“I was speaking to the president because I felt that he has this moment now where he feels charged and empowered to do what he feels called to do. And I wanted to say, you know, there is room for mercy. There’s room for a broader compassion,” Budde said on “OutFront.”
Budde, who serves as the spiritual leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, is an “advocate and organizer in support of justice concerns, including racial equity, gun violence prevention, immigration reform, the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons, and the care of creation,” according to the church’s webpage.
Following the sermon, Trump criticized Budde’s remarks to reporters, saying he “didn’t think it was a good service.”
Budde said that Trump’s response was respectful.
“He didn’t like it. He said so, he said we could do better. Some of the other comments I’ve received haven’t been as kind or has been as muted, shall we say. And one of the things I was trying to get across is that we can actually have these conversations in a respectful way,” she said.
