‘I can’t do that’: DC Episcopal bishop says she won’t apologize for upsetting Trump during sermon

Rev. Mariann Budde told WTOP's Kyle Cooper that she won't apologize to President Donald Trump after pleading with him to have mercy on those concerned about his return to office.

President Donald Trump has demanded that the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, Right Rev. Mariann Budde, apologize for what he called the message’s “nasty tone.”

Washington's Bishop on apologizing to President Trump

During the inaugural sermon last Tuesday, Budde directly pleaded for Trump to have mercy on those concerned about his return to office, including the LGBTQ+ and migrant workers communities.

“I can’t apologize for proclaiming the gospel in a way that I feel is authentic. I can’t do that, and I’m not going to apologize for asking for mercy,” Budde told WTOP in an interview at her Northwest D.C. home.

In part, Budde asked for his mercy upon “people in our country who are scared now.”

After he returned to the White House, Trump said, “I didn’t think it was a good service” and “they could do much better.” But later, in an overnight post on his social media site, he sharply criticized the “so-called Bishop” as 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,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Budde said she wasn’t deliberately trying to insult anyone: “I was trying to humanize people that I felt were being unfairly described in broad category in the most negative terms.”

At inaugural prayer service, bishop pleads for Trump to ‘have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ people and migrants
She has been both widely praised and criticized for her message but is surprised by the president’s reaction.

“I didn’t think it would land as harshly as it did on his ears,” she said. “But I think that also says that perhaps … if we don’t spend time with people who see the world differently than we do, things can land very differently.”

Budde said she actually thought she might be criticized for another reason.

“I wondered if I was going to be criticized for being too deferential to the president in asking for mercy. It’s a very subservient or humble position to stand before someone of authority and to ask for mercy,” she said.

Budde said she hopes the focus comes off her soon and onto the ideas of her sermon, including having more mercy for each other in America.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Kyle Cooper

Weekend and fill-in anchor Kyle Cooper has been with WTOP since 1992. Over those 25 years, Kyle has worked as a street reporter, editor and anchor. Prior to WTOP, Kyle worked at several radio stations in Indiana and at the Indianapolis Star Newspaper.

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