Pelosi Counters Trump with the Bible

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[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and political rival of President Donald Trump, countered Trump's unexpected 'Bible event.'

According to U.S. media, Speaker Pelosi appeared before the press at Congress on the 2nd (local time) holding a Bible. She read a passage from Ecclesiastes that says there is a time for everything: a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time to seek peace.

Speaker Pelosi then said, "We hope that the President of the United States will follow many predecessors who were commanders of healing, not people who fan the flames."

Pelosi's event is interpreted as a call to manage the situation according to Bible verses and precedents set by former presidents, in response to President Trump's sudden action the previous day of dispersing protesters and posing with a Bible in front of a church near the White House.

Speaker Pelosi had previously attracted attention when she was seen tearing up the speech manuscript as President Trump finished delivering his State of the Union address earlier this year.

President Trump's Bible event appears aimed at securing support from his core base of white Christian voters but has also drawn criticism from religious leaders. This is because it became known that tear gas and rubber bullets were used to disperse peaceful protesters for the church visit. On that day, The Washington Post reported, citing Justice Department officials, that Attorney General William Barr was the one who ordered the dispersal of protesters just before President Trump's speech.

Mary Ann Budde, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, stated, "He used the Bible and my diocese's church as a backdrop without permission for a message contrary to Jesus' teachings," adding, "I am angry."

According to U.S. media, clergy who were inside the church prior to President Trump's visit were also reportedly removed, adding to the controversy.

President Trump again showed a religious gesture by visiting a facility near the White House dedicated to Pope John Paul II on the same day.