Did Black Clergyman Defiantly Snub Trump at National Prayer Service?
The Washington National Cathedral has denied allegations that a now viral video clip circulating on social media shows a black clergyman delivering a defiant and subtle snub to President Donald Trump during the church's prayer service the day after the inauguration.
Trump, who attended the interfaith service — a presidential tradition — with his family and the family of Vice President Mike Pence, is shown in the video extending his hand to greet a procession of multi-denominational clergy as they exit the front of the church.
An unidentified black clergyman is then shown quickly pivoting his scepter to his right hand, and avoiding any eye contact or a handshake with the president as he passes.
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"It was subtle, defiant and a thing of beauty," according to Jen Hayden of the far-left publication Daily Kos.
A representative from the National Cathedral said, however, that the man who did not shake Trump's hand in the video is actually a verger who was simply doing his job.
"The person seen in the video is a Cathedral verger. He was one of several vergers seen in the procession. It is part of their role to escort members of the clergy at the beginning and end of the service. They do not engage with the congregation in that role. You can see earlier in the video that none of the vergers engaged with the president. You can also watch the video from President Obama's prayer service in 2013 where the vergers also don't engage with him," the representative explained.
The clip of the encounter was shared on Facebook about a week ago and it has since been viewed nearly 5 million times, shared more than 45,000 times and elicited nearly 700 comments as of Tuesday evening.
For more information on vergers, visit here.
