D.C. Bishop On Trump Church Stunt: “I Am Outraged”

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 01: U.S. President Donald Trump returns to the White House after posing for photographs in front of St. John's Episcopal Church June 01, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump held up a bible while standing in front of the church, which was partially burned during violent protests the night before. Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump encouraged U.S. governors to be more aggressive against violent protesters following several nights of nationwide violence in response to the death of George Floyd while in the custody of the Minneapolis police. “You have to dominate or you'll look like a bunch of jerks, you have to arrest and try people," he was reported saying during a call from the basement White House Situation Room. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The Bishop of the Episcopalian Diocese of Washington was watching Donald Trump on television as he walked to St. John’s church where he paused to hold up a bible. Her reaction? “I am outraged.”

“Let me be clear: The president just used a Bible, the most sacred text of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and one of the churches of my diocese without permission as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and everything that our churches stand for,” Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde via CNN.

This morning, she appeared on CNN.

“This was a charade that… was meant to bolster a message that does nothing to calm the soul and to reassure the nation that we can recover from this moment." – Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC, on President Trump’s photo op at a church. pic.twitter.com/GQ1oNSpUMB
— CNN (@CNN) June 2, 2020

When asked by CBS News if President Trump regularly attends St. John’s church as other presidents have: “No. No. he is rarely in church. The only time he has been to St. John’s to my knowledge was on the morning of his inauguration.”

USA Today reports “Budde is the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese Washington, overseeing more than 80 Episcopal congregations, including St. John’s. She is the first woman to serve in her position.”