Woke bishop Mariann Budde seen bashing Trump in resurfaced videos following controversial sermon

The bishop who received Donald Trump's ire after begging him to show 'mercy' to LGBTQ+ people and illegal migrants previously bashed Donald Trump over his 'divisive' rhetoric and 'immoral' leadership.

The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde has a longstanding dislike of the president which stems back to his first term.

Budde reignited the feud after she used a service at the National Cathedral in Washington to urge Trump to show 'mercy' to LGBTQ+ people and illegal migrants. 

Her words fell on deaf ears however and the president immediately hit back on Truth Social, demanding an apology and branding her 'nasty' and 'not smart'.

But resurfaced video and articles about Budde's previous comments reveal how deeply their fissure runs.

Resurfaced videos show Budde in 2020 saying she was 'outraged' at Trump for staging a photo opportunity outside the historic St. John's Church across from the White House.

The president was pictured holding up a Bible after the police had cleared the area of Black Lives Matter protesters responding to the murder of George Floyd.

Budde said that Trump had, 'used a Bible and one of the churches of my diocese as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and everything that our church stands for'.

'He took the symbols sacred to our tradition and stood in front of a house of prayer in full expectation that would be a celebratory moment,' Budde fumed.

She went on to tell the Washington Post that everything Trump 'has said and done is to inflame violence' and accused him of divisive and immoral leadership.

Budde later went on to say she had 'given up' trying to speak to the president and called for Trump to be replaced.

Following the 2024 election, Budde made a statement to her diocese in Washington, where she spoke about the 'divisive political rhetoric' used during the season.

She called Trump's win a 'dramatic shift of power,' which was 'worrisome and even frightening' for some members of her church.

She wrote in November 2024: 'I'm grateful for the consistent message of those prayers: that regardless of political affiliation and strongly-held views, we are united in our commitment to follow Jesus in the way of love.

'Such love calls us to seek and serve Christ in all persons and uphold the dignity of every human being—a tall order at any time, but all the more so throughout a season of heated, divisive political rhetoric.

'Now the political realignment begins, in a dramatic shift of power. For some, this is very good news; for others, it is worrisome and even frightening.

Budde added: 'Without question, it will personally impact many in our congregations and surrounding communities, across the country and the world.

'In times of dramatic change—no matter how we feel about it—we are vulnerable to our most unhelpful tendencies and often make our greatest mistakes.'

She had also previously spoken out following the death of George Floyd, when she called for Trump to be replaced.

Budde said: 'It’s a message of a call for justice, for swift justice for George Floyd. For systemic justice for all Brown and Black people who have been under the knee of this country.

'This rising up is of people mostly half my age, they are the ones they should be listening to. 

'I’ve given up speaking to President Trump, we need to replace President Trump.'

She also told PBS: 'There is a deep desire for the fundamental issues at stake brought to light by the murderous death of George Floyd.

'That needs to be addressed in a systemic fundamental way, from every police department in the country and the vigilante civilian actions.'

During the sermon on Tuesday, she told the congregation: 'There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives.' 

She addressed Trump directly - as he sat wearing a red tie in the pew next to his wife and new vice president. 

'Millions have put their trust in you, in the name of our God, I ask you, have mercy on people in our country who are scared now. 

Budde went on to make reference to the laboring workforce of migrants across the US, who clean restaurant kitchens and pick crops. 

She urged the new president: 'They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals'. 

Trump showed no reaction and looked on wearily after a full day and night of inauguration festivities. Other members of the congregation looked uncomfortable. 

After the sermon, Trump spoke with reporters and briefly said that he thought Budde 'could have been much better'. 

That was hours before a Truth Social post in the middle of the night in which he unleashed on the Bishop. 

'The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater,' the president wrote.

'She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.'

His post came after Budde admitted live on CNN that she had used the National Prayer Service to berate Trump. 

She told the outlet: '(I was) reminding us all that the people that are frightened in our country.

'The two groups that I mentioned, are our fellow human beings, and that they have been portrayed all throughout the political campaign in the harshest of lights.

'I wanted to counter, as gently as I could, with a reminder of their humanity and their place in our wider 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 there is room for mercy. There is room for a broader compassion.

'We don't need to portray with a broad cloth in the harshest of terms some of the most vulnerable people in our society, who are in fact our neighbors and our friends.'

The bishop, who proudly puts her pronouns in her Instagram biography, is also pro-gay marriage and previously donated to the presidential campaign of Barack Obama.

In a piece with the Washington Post in 2011, after being installed as the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, she was described as 'unapologetically liberal'.

Speaking then, she told the outlet: 'I'm in favor of gay marriage, always have been. At this point it's a no-brainer.'

The diocese website boasts that she serves as an advocate of racial equity, gun violence prevention, immigration reform and inclusivity.

Budde, who is married with two adult children, had also previously oversaw a convention in the diocese that called for the disuse of gendered pronouns for God.