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Trump put in his place during inaugural prayer service
The words of compassion by Bishop Budde were ‘a lesson in moral leadership and courage that our government would do well to listen to,’ says Jeremy Corbyn. LINDA PENTZ GUNTER has more on the sermon heard around the world
US President Donald Trump (left) watches as Reverend Mariann Budde (second right) arrives at the national prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, January 21, 2025, in Washington, DC

ABOUT the only satisfying sight to emerge from President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday was the picture of progressive independent Senator Bernie Sanders sitting grumpily with his arms folded while others around him stood to cheer.

The image was reminiscent of the Sanders photo that went viral after Joe Biden’s chilly outdoor inauguration in January 2021, when Sanders sat in a similar pose wearing a pair of large, woolly mittens. 

Sanders didn’t need the mittens this time because Trump’s inauguration was moved indoors, even though expected temperatures were scarcely lower than those during the inaugurations of John F Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama’s first, all of which took place outside. The decision to go inside rightfully elicited an outpouring of scorn directed toward Trump’s aspirations as a machismo-fuelled strongman.

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