‘Shameful Display’: Steve Bannon Slams Black Pastor for ‘Upstaging’ Donald Trump During Inauguration As Others Accuse Him of Mocking Martin Luther King with Theatrical Prayer 

Former Donald Trump adviser and current MAGA podcaster Steve Bannon led a diverse array of critics who found Detroit pastor Lorenzo Sewell’s nearly three-minute invocation at Monday’s presidential inauguration ceremonies a bit much. “The benedictions, how long did the benedictions take? 19:19, okay. When benedictions take 19 minutes, that’s not acceptable,” Bannon said. Rabbi Ari Berman and Imam Husham Al-Husainy also participated in the inaugural prayer, but it was the charismatic Sewell, 43, who stole the show with his intercession that borrowed heavily from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech. Steve Bannon and Rev. Lorenzo Sewell (Photos: Getty Images) Sewell, who campaigned with Trump in 2024, thanked God for the incoming administration and prayed “that America would begin to dream again.” He went on to ask that God “let freedom ring” across the nation and fulfill the dream that every American be “free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.” Critics felt the King homage was disrespectful, especially since it was delivered at a ceremony celebrating Trump’s return to the White House. Sewell said Trump personally asked him to deliver the invocation. Pastor Lorenzo Sewell's prayer at Donald Trump's...