Kellyanne Conway denounced comments made by Mariann Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C., in response to President Trump’s visit to St. John’s Episcopal Church.
Budde accused Trump of using the Bible in a message that was “antithetical to the teachings of Jesus” and said she was “outraged” that the president had protesters forcibly cleared near the White House to walk across the street to the church on Monday. Conway, counselor to the president, pushed back on the bishop’s criticism on Tuesday.
“That is not ‘her church,’ that is not ‘her Bible,'” she said on Fox News. “We don’t look into other people’s hearts and souls and discern and judge what their faith is. Why the president felt compelled to walk there, why he held that Bible up, that is a symbol to everyone that we will not allow arsonists and anarchists who set that fire ablaze, who really, I think, demean the memory of those who have lost their lives in the name of their respective faith and religions. We won’t allow them to dissuade us from practicing our religion.”
Trump visited St. John’s, a historic house of worship near the White House, after it caught on fire Sunday night following protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in Minnesota police custody last week turned violent.
Conway also credited Trump’s record on religion, including signing an executive order on ensuring religious freedom, his opening of churches during the coronavirus pandemic, and his speech addressing the United Nations in 2019, calling for an end to religious persecution around the world.
“This is a continuum by this president,” Conway said. “Ten short days ago, 11 days ago, he said, ‘Reopen our places of worship. We need more prayer, not less. Stop treating them like they’re nonessential. Stop discriminating against these places of worship that really compel a special solicitude before you ban people from worshiping.’ That followed closely with praying for the souls of George Floyd and the African American police officer in Oakland who also lost his life.”
