Donald Trump is demanding an apology from the Episcopal D.C. bishop who spoke during the National Prayer Service marking his inauguration.
Trump took to social media shortly after midnight Wednesday with his thoughts on Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, who turned the sermon into a lecture about illegal migrants, refugees and the LGBTQ community.
“The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater,” Trump wrote.
“She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way,” he continued, noting her “nasty” tone and her remarks which were “not compelling or smart.”
During her speech, the bishop called on Trump to “have mercy” on immigrant families “whose children fear that their parents will be taken away.”
The president wrote: “She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people.”
He added: “Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA.”
Aside from her “inappropriate statements,” Trump also complained that “the service was a very boring and uninspiring one.”
Anyone who saw photos from Tuesday’s service could see Trump, his family, and other attendees looking fairly disinterested and unimpressed.
“She is not very good at her job!” Trump added. “She and her church owe the public an apology!”
Budde confirmed that the service was intended to be a “one-on-one conversation with the president.”
“I was looking at the president because I was speaking to him,” the bishop told CNN.
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“I was speaking to the president because I felt he has this moment now where he feels charged and empowered to do what he feels called to do, and I wanted to say there is room for mercy,” she said.
Budde said that she “wanted to counter, as gently as I could, with a reminder of (the illegals’) humanity and their place in our wider community,” adding that she hoped to “have these conversations in a respectful way.”