‘People around me are almost universally concerned’: Bishop who begged Trump to have ‘mercy’ talks threats
‘People around me are almost universally concerned’: Bishop who begged Trump to have ‘mercy’ talks threats
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Bishop Mariann Budde previously condemned Trump’s 2020 decision to clear Black Lives Matter demonstrators in Lafayette Square and then pose there for a photo-op. It’s been less than a week since Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde confronted President Donald Trump, but those in her inner circle are “universally concerned” about her wellbeing after she received a flood of “violent speech.”.
![[Trump slammed the Bishop after the service where she talked about LGBTQ and immigrant populations]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/21/20/2195123436.jpg)
His remarks seemed to have ignited his followers. One Republican Congressman even called for the bishop, a U.S. citizen, to be deported. “To keep my own sanity, I don’t spend a lot of time reading the comments. But those who have been monitoring them are concerned about the level of violent speech that is embedded in them,” the bishop said.
![[‘I was actually counting on people overhearing me talk to Trump in a way that would communicate to them,’ the Bishop said about her hopes with her message]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/22/13/newFile-4.jpg)
“But those who have been monitoring them are concerned about the level of violent speech that is embedded in them,” Budde said. “But I honestly can’t say if it’s worse. I didn’t read them in 2020, either. Actually, my assistant at the time just said, ‘Yeah, you’re not reading these. You’re not reading these. You can only read these.’.
“She only gave me the ones that were supportive. But I said, ‘O.K., what’s the ratio?’ And she said, ‘Oh, it’s about 50-50’.”. Budde admitted that she didn’t know if the ratio was 50-50. But, she said there is a state of fear in the country’s air about violence. She said the U.S. has become more violent in its rhetoric and that has given way to more “unguarded speech.”.
