Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker went off on a politically conservative and deeply religious tirade, going after working women, people who identify as LGBTQ+, President Joe Biden, and other Catholics.
During his commencement address on Saturday at Benedictine College, a conservative Catholic college in Kansas, Butker wasted no time getting to his grievances with the Biden Administration, blaming the president for the “COVID fiasco” he inherited from former President Donald Trump.
“While COVID might’ve played a large role throughout your formative years, it is not unique. The bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues,” he said. “Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values and media all stem from pervasiveness of disorder.”
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Butker asserted that Biden has demonstrated that “being Catholic is not enough,” that one must also take up the most conservative slate of beliefs put forward by the Catholic Church. “I’m sure to many people, it appears that you can be Catholic and pro-choice,” he said, knocking Catholics who “push dangerous gender ideologies.”
This is all within the first three minutes, and Butker went on for about twenty more in just the same way.
He managed to slip in a homophobic dig, as he criticized the Associated Press for its coverage of Benedictine College, which pushes traditional, conservative Catholic doctrine on its ever-growing student body.
“I am certain the reporters at the AP could not have imagined that their attempt to rebuke and embarrass places and people like those here at Benedictine, wouldn’t be met with anger but instead met with excitement and pride,” Butker said. “Not the deadly sin sort of the pride that has an entire month dedicated to it, but the true God-centered pride that is cooperating with the holy ghost to glorify him.”
Toward the end of his speech, Butker argued that students ought to “lean into their vocations.” Naturally, this led him to urge the female students to “embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.”
“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolic lies told to you,” he said. “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world,” he said.
An executive at the NFL stressed to The Daily Beast that Butker’s views did not align with those of the league.
“Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,” Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, said in a written statement. “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”
And while the Chiefs have declined to comment on Butker’s ridiculous address, the internet is not taking lightly to his speech.
