The Episcopal bishop of Washington — who asked President Donald Trump on Inauguration Day to have mercy on immigrants and LGBTQ+ children — has recorded an ad urging people to vote.
The Right Rev. Mariann Budde told News4 in an exclusive interview the ad is an extension of her request for mercy last year. She said she also wants all citizens to have the courage to engage in the political process and send a message about the kind of country they want to live in.
The ad, which can be seen on youtube, begins with the plea Budde made to Trump on Inauguration Day before shifting to her own plea for citizens to engage in the political process.
“We have all borne witness to the events of the last two years, so today, I am asking you again to have mercy,” she said in the ad. “Just as importantly, I am asking for your courage to love your neighbor, to respect the dignity of every human being, and now, to vote.”
Budde told News4 she was asked to record the ad by the Interfaith Alliance.
“It’s not a message that is counter to any other message in a political season to engage the citizenry,” she said. “Now, it is clear that the position is targeted at the treatment of immigrants and citizens, quite frankly, who have been at the hands of immigration enforcement and ICE, and so I feel that that message is clear.”
By its own description, the Interfaith Alliance is a “network of people of diverse faiths advocating for an equitable and just America.”
“They are actually doing a bus tour through states where there has been an express articulation from the federal government that they plan to do policing of polling stations, and so the idea is to bolster the courage of people who might be somewhat intimidated to vote,” Budde said.
The Interfaith Alliance said the ads will air in four cities: Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Raleigh, North Carolina.
Budde said she hopes the American citizens send a message on Nov. 4.
“I sincerely hope we send a message to our political leaders that some of the policies and practices that have been unleashed in the last two years will be reined in,” she said.
Budde is not the only member of the clergy speaking out on the political process.
In recent days, Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington released a video on YouTube asking the faithful to vote no on two Virginia ballot issues regarding same-sex marriage and abortion, calling them “radically unjust.”
In response to Budde’s plea for mercy on Inauguration Day last year, Trump called her a “so-called” bishop and asked for an apology in a Truth Social post.
