Amid the storm of backlash over his religious, anti-Biden tirade, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker can count on one unlikely defender: Whoopi Goldberg.
Butker has been getting tons of media attention this week for the virulent commencement address he made over the weekend at Benedictine College, during which he knocked what he saw as several major issues that could be blamed on the Biden administration. “Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values and media all stem from pervasiveness of disorder,” Butker said.
The NFL player also voiced his conservative Catholic beliefs, saying, “Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally.” Biden proves, according to Butker, that simply “being Catholic is not enough.”
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On Thursday’s episode of The View, co-host Goldberg stuck up for Butker, saying, “Listen, I like when people say what they need to say. He’s at a Catholic college, he’s a staunch Catholic. These are his beliefs and he’s welcome to them. I don’t have to believe them. I don’t have to accept them. The ladies that were sitting in that audience do not have to accept them.”
Butker’s speech, which has already prompted over 100,000 people to sign a petition calling for his dismissal from the Kansas City Chiefs, included a direct address to the women in the audience.
“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolic lies told to you,” Butker 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.”
Goldberg went even further in her defense on Thursday, comparing the Chiefs player to ex-49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who was never signed by another NFL team after he began protesting police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem before games.
“The same way we want respect when Colin Kaepernick takes a knee, we want to give respect to people whose ideas are different from ours,” Goldberg said. “When you say to somebody, ‘I don’t like what you said and so I’m going to get your job taken away because you disagree with me,’ for me that is an issue.”
The NFL, meanwhile, is distancing itself from Butker. In a statement to The Daily Beast, Jonathan Beane, senior vice president of the NFL, said: “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity. 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.”
