Trump Doesn’t Appear to Notice as Lawmaker Unleashes Veiled Swipes at Him During National Prayer Breakfast Blessing

President Donald Trump didn’t seem to notice as Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) snuck in a few apparent criticisms aimed at the commander in chief during the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday.

After Trump’s hour-long remarks, during which he spoke off-prompter and launched attacks at various targets both new and familiar, Jackson took the stage to offer a prayer.

“We pray that you would protect him from the inequities of evil, that you would give him greater clarity, greater courage, and greater capacity to do what is right in forever challenges,” Jackson said.

At another point in the prayer, Jackson mentioned “the suffering happening on farms in the Midwest” and “the families preparing to bury their loved ones in Minneapolis,” an obvious dig at the president over the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal agents in Minnesota.

Read a portion of Jackson’s prayer below:

Today we pray for America and we pray for all parliamentarians around the world. The book of Timothy teaches us that you’ve been entrusted with leadership. Today we pray for the future of this nation, and that you would lead this president into greater levels of compassion for your namesake. We pray that you would protect him from the inequities of evil, that you would give him greater clarity, greater courage, and greater capacity to do what is right in forever challenges.

Today we remind him that the lives of millions of people are in his hands, and that he has the power to turn mourning into dancing or to reduce the country into a cosmic elegy of chaos and suffering. And it is because of this that we pray, that the best of this president would rise among us. For the sake of this nation, for the sake of this world, we pray that goodness and mercy would announce themselves in his life in new and powerful ways.

We pray that he would be mindful of the poor and that he would be invested in elevation, the alleviation of suffering happening on farms in the Midwest and the families preparing to bury their loved ones in Minneapolis. Remind him that we are all Americans, all made in the image of God. And that none of us are free unless all of us have our freeodoms protected. Many people are not lazy. Many people are simply tired. Many people simply are not OK.

Watch above via C-SPAN 3.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!