Edited with comments by Mike Killalea, NSD president
MAGA influencers and media are outraged – outraged, I say! – that Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde would DARE to ask Prez Felon in the front row to show kindness and mercy. It’s clear that Trump is determined to end free speech in America.
“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” she began. (Budde’s full remarks included in the linked article)
For her troubles, Budde was fiercely attacked. On Truth Social, Trump called her a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater.” He demanded an apology.
Other hateful attacks on Budde and her message of unity and compassion include:
· “Satan”: Fox News host Greg Gutfeld
· “disgraceful prayer full of fearmongering and division”: Sean Hannity
· “Radical leftist”: Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones
· “Hell exists for people like Mariann” and “exhibit A for why women should not be pastors, priests, or bishops”: Matt Walsh
· “Added to the deportation list”: recommendation by one Republican Congressman
With the MAGA base thoroughly whipped up into a frenzy, Budde says death threats inevitably followed, predictable as the sunrise.
When asked about the backlash, Budde told NPR, “I regret that it 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.”
But she stood firm: “I don’t feel there’s a need to apologize for a request for mercy.”
Writes Parker Malloy in The New Republic on Substack, “Remember this moment. Remember that asking for mercy toward scared children and immigrants was enough to trigger a full-scale campaign of intimidation from the highest levels of government and media. Remember that a sitting congressman suggested deporting an American citizen for the crime of asking the president to be kind.
“This is how authoritarianism works—not just through direct government action but through the creation of an environment where speaking up feels too costly….
“The question isn’t whether Budde was right to speak up. The question is whether the rest of us will have the courage to join her. Because if this is how they respond to a gentle plea for mercy, imagine what’s in store for those who dare to push back against actual policies.”
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