Trump launches savage attack on bishop who asked for ‘mercy’ for minorities.

U.S. President Donald Trump hit out Wednesday at a bishop who directly called on him to show mercy to immigrants and LGBTQ+ people.

During the inaugural prayer service Tuesday at the Washington National Cathedral attended by Trump, Vice President JD Vance and their families, the Right Rev Mariann Budde delivered a sermon in which she appealed to Trump to be merciful to minorities, “some who fear for their lives.”

“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now,” Budde said, referring to “gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families.”

Most “immigrants are not criminals,” she added. “They pay taxes and are good neighbors.”

Trump hit back in the early hours of Wednesday on his social media platform Truth Social, calling Budde a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater” who is “not very good at her job” and demanding an apology.

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

“Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one,” he added.

Trump signed a flurry of executive orders Monday within hours of returning to the Oval Office to jump-start his legislative agenda, including proclaiming that the U.S. government will recognize only two sexes — male and female — and rolling back protections for transgender people.

He also signed orders to end birthright citizenship and declare a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Republican leader has previously vowed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, making “the largest deportation program in American history” a signature pledge of his campaign.

Budde has clashed with Trump before, writing an opinion piece in The New York Times in 2020 saying she was “outraged” and “horrified” by his use of the Bible “for his political purposes” amid racial justice protests following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.

Trump sat stone-faced throughout Budde’s sermon and later told reporters he didn’t think it was a “good service,” while Vance appeared incredulous at the bishop’s remarks.

POLITICO