As we've been covering this week, Episcopalian Bishop Mariann Budde used the National Prayer Service on Tuesday to go after President Donald Trump and his positions on LGBTQ+ issues and immigration. The very next day, she appeared on ABC News' "The View," where the radical leftist co-hosts, who had even been in denial that Trump was even inaugurated once more, predictably fawned over her.
Once the applauding crowd quieted down, co-host Joy Behar, who is particularly anti-Trump, got right to it. "So let me ask you this. You seem to have more fearlessness than anyone in Congress right now, ma'am," Behar said, which let to another smattering of applause. "What made you decide to use that opportunity for this message, and did you have any apprehension about it?"
Budde absolutely should have had "apprehension," given that the event is not supposed to be about politics.
"My response--thank you, first of all, for allowing me to be with you today," Budde said with a slight chuckle, appearing to try to come off as humble. "My responsibility that morning, yesterday morning," she claimed during Wednesday's show, "was to reflect, to pray with the nation for unity and as I was pondering what are the foundations of unity, I, you know, wanted to emphasize respecting and honoring the dignity of every human being, um, basic honesty, and humility. And then I also realized that in, um, that unity requires a certain degree of mercy, mercy and compassion and understanding, and so knowing that, um, a lot of people, as I said, in our country are really scared. I want to take the opportunity, in the context of that service for unity to say we, um, we need to treat everyone with dignity, and we need to be merciful," Budde said. Behar could be heard murmuring in agreement.
As bad as Budde's lecture of a sermon against the president was, her remarks make it that much worse. She went for no such thing, though she is correct that the event should have been about unity. Further, if she wanted to focus on "the dignity of every human being," she would have talked about abortion and perhaps could have commended this new administration's pro-life position, in stark contrast to the rabidly pro-abortion now former Biden administration. Budde herself has managed to say a whole of nothing about the abortion issue, just as her church has cowardly refused to take too much of a position.
When it comes to these ideas of "unity" and "mercy," with the bishop having used her Tuesday sermon to demand that Trump had "mercy" for for illegal immigrants, it sounded like she was just pulling it out of nowhere at this point. Further, Budde didn't give Trump a sense of "understanding," especially as she went after him at an event where he could not exactly respond back in the moment through a sort of open dialogue.
Budde perhaps saved the most ridiculous claim for the end of the clip. "I was trying to counter the narrative that is so, um, so divisive and polarizing and, um, in which people, real people are being harmed," she claimed.
Although such an appearance was unsurprising and before the friendliest audience possible, the liberal activist/bishop's sermon was the definition of "so divisive and polarizing," and she only furthered that by going on such a program so vocally opposed to this newly inaugurated president and his administration.
The ladies of 'The View' fawn over Mariann Edgar Budd, the woke "bishop" who delivered the sermon at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/1Salb4qaAc
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 22, 2025
Trump joked about the service being "not too exciting" when asked afterwards on Tuesday, though he took to Truth Social on Wednesday morning to demand an apology, one that doesn't seem likely given Budde's delusional thinking about how she think her sermon went.
Will punishment come for the National Cathedral, which hosted such an event, one that is supposed to be a nice, interfaith service dedicated to celebrating the incoming administration?
Many hope so. Jack Posobiec, for instance, has spoken out in favor of revoking the cathedral's tax status.
🚨BREAKING: Jack Posobiec calls for the National Cathedral to have its tax-exempt status revoked after Bishop Budde's woke lgbtq trans propaganda at the National Prayer Service: pic.twitter.com/rYzfsFze10
— AJ Huber (@Huberton) January 22, 2025