The bishop who oversees the Washington, DC church that Donald Trump visited following his speech on Monday admonished the president for using a place of worship as a “prop," noting the police deployed tear gas against peaceful protestors to clear a path for Trump's walk from the White House to St. John’s Church.
As Washington Post’s Michelle Boorstein reports, Bishop Mariann Budde said she is “outraged” and had no idea the White House “would be clearing with tear gas” in order to use the church for Trump’s photo op.
“That they would be clearing with tear gas so they could use one of our churches as a prop, holding a bible — one that declares that God is love and when everything he has said and done is to enflame violence,” Budde said. “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,” the bishop continued.
Budde later spoke with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, insisting Trump’s actions were “antithetical to everything we stand for.”
You can watch that interview below: