The White House defended President Donald Trump on Monday following Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob’s public apology for his involvement in an Oval Office prayer session with the president.
He alleged that the administration had exploited a sacred occasion for political purposes. Grob acknowledged his initial hesitation regarding his attendance and offered an apology for the concern his participation had generated. On Sunday, Grob released a statement entitled ‘A Public Apology’, in which he contended that the White House had distributed pictures and video footage of the Thursday prayer service without seeking authorization from the 12 bishops who participated.
Archbishop Grob said that the administration had leveraged the religious event for political advantage just before the midterm elections. “I feel a heavy sadness, not only over the pain I caused, but also for the fact that something so sacred to a group of religious leaders, prayer to our Heavenly Father, would be manipulated in that way,” he said. The archbishop said that he had been contacted by Catholic constituents who expressed concern that the prayer event appeared to represent a political endorsement.
“There has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump, and his strong record proves it: he stopped the weaponization of the federal government against Christians, proudly defended and expanded our religious rights, pardoned pro-life activists, stopped the chemical mutilation of our nation’s children, and protected parents’ rights,” she said. The Heritage Foundation facilitated the meeting, which was designed to discuss immigration policy enforcement, visa provisions for religious workers, and additional matters important to the Catholic Church, according to Grob.
A White House spokeswoman, Taylor Rogers, issued a statement to Fox News Digital in which she defended the Trump administration’s stance on religious liberty and matters of concern to Catholic communities, responding to the archbishop’s public apology.
