It didn't take long for traditional media to lift up the first #Resistance figure of Trump's second term as president.
Bishop Marian Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Church of Washington made headlines Tuesday morning for her sharp message to President Donald Trump during the National Prayer Meeting, where Vice President J.D. Vance and his family were also present.
“Let me ask you one last request, Mr. President,'' Mr. Budde said. “In the name of our God, have mercy on the people of our country who are scared right now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families. Some people feel their lives are in danger.”
“And the people who harvest our crops, clean our office buildings, work in our poultry farms and meatpacking plants, wash dishes after eating at restaurants, and work the night shift in our hospitals are our citizens. or they may not have the proper documentation.'' However, the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors,” she continued.
Hours later, Budde appeared on CNN and explained why he had made such a plea to Trump.
Budde told CNN's Erin Burnett: “I spoke to the president because I feel like he's now given the responsibility and the authority to do what he feels he's being told to do. I wanted to say that there is room for mercy.” “There is room for broader compassion. There is no need to broadly paint the most vulnerable people in our society in the harshest terms.”
President Trump repeatedly criticized Budde and her church on Truth Social, calling her a “radical left-wing hard-line Trump hater” and saying, “She and her church owe the people an apology!” .
The growing feud only further fueled Budde's media tour. She spoke with The New York Times on Tuesday night, appeared on “The View” and “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Wednesday, and gave interviews to NPR, Time magazine and the Associated Press.
“You seem to have more fearlessness than anyone in Congress right now,” Joy Behar told Budde at the beginning of a “View” interview.
“The Episcopal bishop of Washington, D.C., looked the president-elect in the eyes in the front row of the National Cathedral in Washington during the National Prayer Service and very calmly, very clearly, illustrated what it was all about. “It means speaking truth to power,” Maddow said during a one-on-one preview with Budde.
Jeffrey McCall, a journalism professor at DePauw University, said Budde fills a void in the media that desperately needs a strong public opponent since Trump's victory.
“Bishop Budde saw an opportunity to put himself in the middle of a political battle and was happy to take the spotlight,” McCall told Fox News Digital. “She quickly became a darling of the resistance media, as she was the only person to dish out some pretty rhetoric to Trump in his first days in office.”
The New York Times dramatized Budde's sermon, reporting that she “looked President Trump in the eye and begged him for mercy — and America's war over spiritual authority reignited.”
“As Bishop Marian E. Budde stood in the famous Canterbury pulpit above the president on Tuesday, he was a little scared,” the Times told readers. “President Trump, seated seven feet below her and about 40 feet to her right, made eye contact. One representative of American Christianity began speaking to another, a silver-haired woman in the pulpit. The bishop's words arrested the most powerful man in the world, until he turned his back.”
“For everyone watching, the vastness of the Washington National Cathedral was suddenly compressed into an intimate space in one remarkable moment, and with it a whole host of existential issues surrounding not just politics but morality itself. “The war for spiritual authority in America quickly descended into a rare public showdown,” the Times continued.
The Washington Post said it also spoke with Budde before the National Prayer Meeting and posted a video of her sermon on its website.
ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce predicted that Budd would be “confronting” Trump in a report on “Good Morning America,” and aired portions of the sermon.
William A. Jacobson, a Cornell Law School professor and media commentator, called Budd “the latest bright spot in the eyes of the anti-Trump media.”
“Bishop is following a well-trodden path forged by Michael Avenatti and others,” Jacobson told Fox News Digital. “The bishop will be a media darling for a while, but then he'll be replaced by the next big anti-Trump faction. It's all very messy and predictable.”
Other news organizations used the sermon in hopes of embarrassing President Trump. The Daily Beast ran the headline, “Female Bishop Abuses Trump to His Face at Worship Service,” and told readers, “Discomfort was seen on the faces of the first and second families. So perhaps they weren't expecting a public condemnation of Trump's policies.”
New York Magazine's The Cut took a similar view with the headline, “President Trump didn't appreciate being called out at church,” and how Trump “threw a tantrum” on Truth Social about the incident. ridiculed.
MSNBC published an editorial with the headline, “President Trump's angry response to virus sermon should worry all Christians.”
“Bishop Marian Edgar Budde's words reflect the values held by the majority of American Christians. President Trump's divisive statements seek to obscure this fact,” Interfaith Alliance said. wrote Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons in an op-ed.
Even liberal late night shows praised Budde at the president's expense.
CBS host Stephen Colbert responded: “That's a great statement.” “Not only was it beautiful, but it took courage to stand there and say something so simple, so kind, true to Christ's example. And even better, it took Trump It made me very uncomfortable.”
“I don't know what you're all clapping for, but that bishop doesn't need to bring the teachings of Jesus into the church,” ABC's Jimmy Kimmel joked to the audience, adding, “Good for her.” he added.
“Can you imagine going to church and just having the pastor talk to you? … I don't think anyone has had it worse in church than Trump,” said Ronnie Chen of “The Daily Show.” “And you could tell by the way he looked when he came out of church that he was having a rough time.”
