Mariann Budde, the Episcopal Bishop who oversees St. John's Episcopal Church, which Trump used as a backdrop for a photo op meant to show Americans that he was not a coward hiding in a bunker, slammed the president in an interview with the Washington Post late Monday.
Said Budde: “I am outraged. I am the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and was not given even a courtesy call, that they would be clearing [the area] with tear gas so they could use one of our churches as a prop. Everything he has said and done is to inflame violence. We need moral leadership, and he's done everything to divide us.”
“Holding a bible, one that declares that God is love … when everything he has said and done is to enflame violence,” Budde added. “I am beyond. We need moral leadership and he's done everything to divide us and has just used one of the most sacred symbols of the Judeo-Christian tradition.”
Budde later tweeted: “We are followers of Jesus. In no way do we support the President's incendiary response to a wounded, grieving nation. We stand with those seeking justice for the death of George Floyd through the sacred act of peaceful protest.”
