A day after a much-criticized photo op at a fire-damaged church near the White House, Donald Trump took his anti-protester “law and order” message to a Catholic shrine, a visit that drew swift condemnation from a top church official.
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump traveled across town Tuesday for a brief visit to Saint John Paul II National Shrine adjacent to The Catholic University of America. The shrine is a place of prayer for Catholics but welcomes people of all faiths.
The Trumps posed for photos in front of a statue of Saint Pope John Paul II outside the shrine and stood silently for a few minutes, hands clasped in front of them. They did not make any remarks, outside of Trump whispering to Melania for her to smile (VIDEO BELOW.)
Washington Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory slammed the presidential visit in a statement shortly before the Trumps’ arrival.
“I find it baffling that and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree,” Gregory said in a statement.
Trump also is scheduled to sign an executive order on international religious freedom on Tuesday.
Trump’s visit to the shrine comes just one day after he walked across Lafayette Park next to the White House and posed for cameras outside St. John’s Episcopal Church, which suffered slight damage after it was set on fire by protesters late Sunday night.
During the visit to the shrine, Trump turned to Melania and told her to smile. And she barely eked out a smile. It was sad actually.
Trump asks Melania to smile during today's photo op. pic.twitter.com/B59YeDHKRM [1]
— The Recount (@therecount) June 2, 2020 [2]
Twitter had a field day:
That must have hurt. #BeBest [3] #RemoveTrumpNow [4] https://t.co/kdMBCjkq3S [5]
— Lesley Abravanel🆘 (@lesleyabravanel) June 2, 2020 [6]
Well, that's chilling. https://t.co/sRb01GBcET [7]
— Schooley (@Rschooley) June 2, 2020 [8]
3rd lady Melania is struggling to fake it anymore. https://t.co/xhXDaNX88G [9]
— Gissur Simonarson 🇮🇸🏴 (@GissiSim) June 2, 2020 [10]
normal not android people https://t.co/0rlKD3wzl8 [11]
— kilgore trout, potato thief (@KT_So_It_Goes) June 2, 2020 [12]
Can’t even fake it at this point. #DumpTrump2020 [13] https://t.co/rwEowBwwqM [14]
— Grant Babbitt (@grantbabbitt) June 2, 2020 [15]
i want melanias drug dealer – shit looks like it’s amazing – like on another planet https://t.co/UHeedit4nE [16]
— Casey (@CaseysHotCakes) June 2, 2020 [17]
2 miserably, horrible people. She married him, she "birthered" with him and they can both go to hell.
I really don't care, do you? https://t.co/DiSy7Zw14u [18]— Melissa Bailey-Biden (@Justlove3332) June 2, 2020 [19]