Trump put out a video and image of some Catholic Bishops with him in the Oval Office. It included one of those ‘laying of hands’ moments. Trump of course made a fuss out of those Bishops “endorsing” him. We are after all in the midst of an election that will culminate next Tuesday. Among supporters (especially Catholic ones) who profess to be Christian despite NOT following Jesus’ teachings it went over well. With others? Not so much. Today we have some of those Bishops doing a takeback and crying foul.
It’s not the first time Trump has had clergy in a swarm around him as he sits at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. He bows his head and pretends to be humble for those ‘laying of hands’ things. That’s awfully tough for him. Not just the acting humble as though he’s praying, but feeling all icky with all those hands on him. He is after all famously germaphobic and a flock of non-reminds-me-of-Ivanka people, especially mostly (or all) guys touching him, even through a suit drive him nuts. He probably has a HazMat team on standby in his private study next to the Oval and a complete change of clothes!
Anyway, as reported by Time the Bishops are claiming they were duped. Taken advantage of. Exploited! Really? Well, that’s what they say but they are after all not just Catholics but high ranking ones so they can hit the confessional and do however many Rosaries get meted out. Seriously though for confession to be accepted by God there has to be actual remorse. I wouldn’t put any bets on that being the case here, at least not with all of those Bishops. Still, there are plenty of priests with advanced education. Some are college professors. Some are doctors. And some are LAWYERS so a cleverly worded confession for their travesty that passes muster of actually being contrite can no doubt be worked out.
They certainly caught some hell for that Oval Office appearance. Not just from parishioners but Pope Leo (American born, bred and educated) too. So they’re saying ‘Oops. Sorry. We shouldn’t have done that, at least not right now’:
A video of Catholic bishops praying around President Donald Trump during a meeting at the White House last week has sparked debate, with some bishops claiming their attendance was “exploited” for political purposes less than two weeks before the midterm elections.
The 12 clergymen joined Trump on Thursday in the Oval Office, for what Archbishop Jeffrey Grob of Milwaukee has said was intended to be a private meeting to discuss matters such as immigration enforcement, religious worker visas, and human dignity. But in a “public apology” issued Sunday, Grob expressed deep regret over the meeting that he suggested was used as a “political photo opportunity” after White House officials shared images and footage of a moment of prayer. The video, which Grob claims was posted without the bishops’ consent, has been viewed over 1.8 million times on X alone.
I know I’ve been kind of snarky to this point. Some fairness on my part is most definitely in order. Religious leaders meeting with any President and in the Oval Office is, in and of itself a good thing if the purpose is to advocate for the things their religion teaches. Like caring for those in need. Actual need (health, food, shelter etc.) and not super rich people who couldn’t spend all their money in ten lifetimes if they tried. It’s good to reach out to, even confront a President and in the Oval Office to advocate for certain programs or government policy that will help the masses. But timing matters. In this case is was a particularly poor time for those Bishops to meet with Trump. I’m not the only one saying so. The linked article mentions others at the meeting and some of their associates who weren’t making statements similar to Grob’s. I for one think qualifying language about them meeting in their individual capacity and not as a representative of the Church or their Diocese is greasy rationalization. However one group of Catholic leaders was quite clear in their take on this event:
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), meanwhile, has distanced itself from the gathering. A spokesperson for the group told TIME that “the meeting was not organized by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops” and emphasized it was “not affiliated” in any way.
Ouch. That’s the equivalent of being taken out behind the confessional for an old-fashioned spanking! This group of Bishops that met with Trump aren’t a bunch of wide-eyed priests from tiny parishes in the sticks. They know damn well even if the press corps isn’t allowed in to observe or have a Q & A session when the meeting is done at some point there will be photos taken. Sometimes video too. Part of the point is to provide proof the get-together happened! Plus, many who meet a President (especially in the Oval) like having a memento to hang on the wall showing them in that place, and meeting with an actual President. I know I would but despite all those years in the DC area I never got that chance. The closest was fifty years ago when I was a couple hundred feet away from Jimmy Carter giving a campaign speech at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale when I was in college. Oh well.
According to the article, while the Bishops knew the gathering was being recorded they claim to believe no video or images would be released. Well, they didn’t but Trump sure as hell did. So now, they are claiming they were naive, duped and so on. And that they’re sorry:
The 12 clergymen joined Trump on Thursday in the Oval Office, for what Archbishop Jeffrey Grob of Milwaukee has said was intended to be a private meeting to discuss matters such as immigration enforcement, religious worker visas, and human dignity. But in a “public apology” issued Sunday, Grob expressed deep regret over the meeting that he suggested was used as a “political photo opportunity” after White House officials shared images and footage of a moment of prayer. The video, which Grob claims was posted without the bishops’ consent, has been viewed over 1.8 million times on X alone.
Grob says there have been ‘many questions.’ Gee your holiness, ya think? He says the invitation was extended by the Heritage Foundation (how big a warning flag do you need?) and that they’d be able to pray privately with the President after discussing the issues they wanted to go over with Trump. Again, normally I’d say there’s nothing wrong with religious leaders of any faith/denomination having that type of meeting. However these aren’t dumbass MAGA goobers. Grob said:
Several photos were taken and we were ushered out [after the prayer]. Unbeknownst to the group of bishops, a video was also taken. But permission for the public distribution or posting of either the video or photos was not given by the bishops,” he claimed, insisting the bishops “should never have been put in that position by the White House.”
Basically, Grob is on behalf of the group doing the ‘how could we be so stupid?’ schtick but I have a hard time buying it. This is after all TRUMP we’re talking about. Both he and his Party are in deep doo-doo as early voting is well underway. To think Trump wouldn’t turn right around and post pictures/video with the claim “See? SEE? Especially all you Catholics? LOOK WHO’S ENDORSING ME!!!!” requires a special kind of stupidity/suspension of common sense and belief.
Of COURSE they knew Trump would post what he did. And before the election. Hell, for Trump that was the whole point of having the meeting! Maybe I’m wrong and/or being unfair to Grob and the others but I’m questioning the sincerity of todays ‘We in no way intended this to be an endorsement’ statement. I say they caught more flak, a LOT more than they thought they would. Probably even from the Pope himself who is on Trump’s sh!t list for his strong criticisms of Trump and U.S. policy. Pope Leo believes the church he leads should practice what Jesus taught – and Trump doesn’t. In fact Trump makes a point of not doing so which is why the current Pope so strongly calls him out.
Again, I’m quite certain Pope Leo wouldn’t have objected to those Bishops having that meeting. But not now. Not with a hugely consequential election in the works. After? No problem he’d say. We should reach out and be open to dialogue about better meeting the needs of the most people we can help. But Leo has probably told them you’re freaking Bishops! You’ve interacted with lots of political leaders from the local to the state level and sometimes in DC and done well for the church and your parishioners or you wouldn’t be Bishops. ‘How in the hell did you not see this being turned into a campaign stunt by Trump coming?’
So, I say that’s why they are now apologizing. Either they were incredibly, MAGA goober stupid or they wanted to give Trump a boost. Either is bad. If I were Pope Leo they’d all be on notice that he was keeping an eye on them. And that if they didn’t straighten up and right quick they won’t be Bishops anymore. Instead they will find themselves in far flung, poor parishes of the type he made a point in serving before he became Pope.
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