Who is Mariann Edgar Budde? The Washington bishop made a public plea to Trump in his inauguration service – and he later called her a ‘radical left hard line Trump hater’
Budde previously criticised Trump in a New York Times article when he posed with a Bible – now she’s facing his ire after issuing a public plea for him to be lenient with marginalised communities
“There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and Independent families, some who fear for their lives,” she said during her sermon, adding that immigrants now at risk of deportation under Trump are among the “faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwaras and temples”. Trump was noticeably uncomfortable during Budde’s homily, glaring and shifting in his seat.
Trump later took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to issue a blistering indictment of Budde’s service. In a post, Trump said, “I didn’t think it was a good service” and called Budde a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater”. He went on to criticise Budde’s efforts, saying, “She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way” and that Budde’s words were “nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart”.
He even demanded that she apologise. But in a subsequent appearance on ABC’s The View, Budde avoided the issue of an apology, saying only that she “would consider a one-on-one meeting if the invitation came from the president personally”.
So just who is Mariann Edgar Budde, the first female spiritual leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, who has managed to earn Trump’s anger?
Mariann Budde is the daughter of a Swedish immigrant
Like many of the people she advocated for in her inauguration service, Budde, 65, is the daughter of an immigrant mother. Although she was born in New Jersey, her mother had emigrated from Sweden. According to The New York Times, she was raised in New Jersey and Colorado. She has two adult sons, Amos and Patrick, with husband Paul. Mariann and Paul are also grandparents.