Bishop who made LGBTQ+ plea to Donald Trump explains why she 'won't apologise' to president despite demand

The bishop who pleaded with Donald Trump during a sermon explained why she 'won't apologise' to the president despite his demand that she do so.

Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde asked Trump to show 'mercy' to LGBTQ+ people and immigrants in a speech made the day after his inauguration (21 January).

Addressing the President, she said that 'millions have put their trust in you' and that some communities were 'scared now'.

"They are our fellow human beings who have been portrayed in the harshest of lights." the bishop said. "I wanted to counter as gently as I could with a reminder of their humanity and place in our wider community.

"I wanted to say there is room for mercy and a broader compassion."

However, her words seemingly didn't resonate with Trump as he took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to brand Budde as 'not compelling or smart' and that she 'owe[s] the public an apology'.

Opening up about when and why she decided to make the plea to the president, Budde told NPR’s Juana Summers: "I had been preparing all along because it was the purpose of the service: a sermon on unity. We were gathering to pray for the unity of the country after a divisive election season.

Budde urged the Republican leader to show 'mercy' to LGBTQ+ people and immigrants (10 News First)

"So that had been in my mind, and I had been thinking about what is unity in a country as diverse and in some estimations, as polarised as we are. So that's what got me started, the foundations of unity."

She continued: "We need compassion. We need empathy. And I - rather than list that as a broad category, as you as you heard me say - I decided to make an appeal to the president because I was hoping to not only to him, but in speaking to him, to everyone who was listening to me speak to him, to help us remember that … [pause for technical glitch] how dangerous it is to speak of people in these broad categories, and particularly immigrants, as all being criminals or transgender children somehow being dangerous; that we could be kinder.

"And I decided to ask him as gently as I could to have mercy. That's why I did it."

Budde also directly responded to comments from the president that she is a 'Trump hater' and should apologise, outlining: "Well, I'm not a Trump hater, first of all. I don't hate the president, and I pray for him. And I don't agree with some of his views of the country and the decisions he made, but I certainly don't hate him."

The 65-year-old grandmother carried on: "So I don't know what to say. Except, you don't know me, Mr. President. And so, and I don't think I portrayed myself in that way in the pulpit.

Donald Trump said 'there are only two genders, male and female', during his inaugural address (Anna Moneymaker / Staff / Getty Images)

"I don't feel there's a need to apologise for a request for mercy. And I don't feel that there is a need to apologise, to speak to the unity of this country that includes people that were not at all referenced in the unity that he spoke of the day before in his inaugural address.

"So, no, I don't feel the need to apologise."

The bishop did, however, open up about one regret she had following the service.

"I regret that it was something that has caused the kind of response that it has, in the sense that it actually confirmed the very thing that I was speaking of earlier, which is our tendency to jump to outrage and not speak to one another with respect," she resolved.

"But no, I won't, I won't apologise for what I said."

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected], or Mindline Trans+ on 0300 330 5468 - this line is open 8pm–midnight Mondays and Fridays and is run by trans volunteers.