Trump Slammed for Looking “Bored and Bothered” During Easter Prayer at the White House

Donald Trump is once again under fire — and this time, it’s from the very people he claims to champion: America’s evangelical base.

A video from Wednesday night’s Easter celebration at the White House has gone viral after it captured the former president looking visibly irritated, distracted, and at times even defiant during a solemn prayer led by Rev. Franklin Graham.

Trump made a face at the beginning of Franklin Graham’s prayer, was looking around during it, and at one point began glaring in his direction. pic.twitter.com/cxcGZBv20E

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) April 17, 2025

Graham, son of the late Rev. Billy Graham and a longtime conservative religious leader, had been invited to deliver a traditional Easter blessing to mark Holy Week. “There’s been a spiritual drought in this city for the past few years,” Graham told attendees before bowing his head. “And so I’m very grateful for the Easter declaration you put out.”

But instead of reverence, Trump offered a cold, blank stare. Cameras caught him glaring, shifting his eyes, and refusing to bow his head during key moments — including when Graham prayed: “Thank You for sending Your Son Jesus Christ to this Earth to take our sins.”

The backlash on social media was swift.

“Trump looked like a man being forced to sit through a prayer he doesn’t believe in — because that’s exactly what’s happening,” one user wrote on X. Another chimed in, “He knows he’s sinning, and you can see it all over his face.”

Some critics questioned why Graham even invited him in the first place. “Trump’s disdain for faith is obvious. He fakes it for votes,” said Rachel Cohn, a former staffer for the Interfaith Alliance. “But when he’s not on script, the truth comes out. This isn’t a man of God — it’s a man of ego.”

Despite the awkward moment, Trump attempted to recover with a dramatic statement afterward. Reading from a prepared script, he launched into a longwinded retelling of Jesus’s crucifixion.

“Nearly 2,000 years ago, during this sacred week, the living Son of God entered Jerusalem in triumph,” he said. “Soon after, the Savior of mankind… was betrayed… and nailed to a cross.” He closed with a quote from Billy Graham: “When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, ‘I love you.’”

But the damage had already been done.

“He talks about Jesus, but you can tell it’s rehearsed,” said Rev. Emma Walters, pastor of a progressive church in Virginia. “Real faith is shown in humility. Trump’s never bowed his head to anyone but himself.”

Others pointed out how Trump appeared more focused on the cameras than the prayer itself. “He was clocking the lens the entire time,” one observer noted. “It’s all about the performance — not the prayer.”

This isn’t Trump’s first religious scandal. In 2020, he infamously posed with a Bible outside a church after protesters were violently cleared from Lafayette Square. Critics, including the church’s own bishop, condemned it as a political stunt.

Now, with the 2024 election still fresh in the nation’s memory and Trump once again eyeing the political stage, his latest “faith moment” is raising fresh doubts among moderate and religious voters alike.

“Let’s be clear,” added Rev. Walters. “This isn’t about policy — this is about character. And Trump just keeps showing us who he really is.”

And America, it seems, is finally starting to listen.