White House Hits Back After Bishops Say Oval Office Prayer Was Exploited Ahead of Midterms

With just a week to go before midterm elections, a prayer in the Oval Office has become a political flashpoint.

Two of the Catholic bishops who joined President Donald Trump on Thursday, October 22, for a prayer meeting in the Oval Office have admitted they regret taking part, and none authorized the video and photos later shared on social media. Now, the White House is pushing back.

On Sunday, October 25, Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob, 65, posted a public apology saying the bishops were “manipulated,” with Election Day less than two weeks away. He stressed that “the meeting was in no way an endorsement of the president, his policies, or his party.” Grob said he agreed to attend after being told there might be a chance to pray privately with the 80-year-old president.

Once images were released showing the bishops standing behind Trump with their heads bowed, Grob said he was deeply troubled. “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 wrote.

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers defended Trump, 80, in a statement to Fox News. “There has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump, and his strong record proves it,” she said. “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.”

Des Moines Bishop William Joensen, 66, also expressed regret in a blog post on Saturday, October 24. He wrote that, before accepting the invitation, he wished he had been “more shrewd and simple, like those who exploited our meeting for partisan political purposes.”

Not every bishop in attendance has second thoughts. In an October 24 interview with the Denver Catholic, Denver Archbishop James Golka, 60, said many of his loved ones have asked why he took part.

“I just answer, ‘I was being a Catholic priest,'” he said. “We pray for people. We bless people who need blessing. And we all need blessing, every single one of us. That’s what we do.”