UPDATE, 5/21/24: Kansas City Chiefs CEO’s wife and daughter have responded to the controversy surrounding the Benedictine College commencement address given by the Chief’s kicker Harrison Butker. In addition, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has demanded that Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas turn over all documents, records, and communications relating to his office’s X post retaliating against Butker.
Following Butker’s statement that the majority of female graduates were likely “most excited” about marriage and motherhood, Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt’s wife Tavia Hunt shared her thoughts as a stay-at-home mother. “I’ve always encouraged my daughters to be highly educated and chase their dreams,” she said. “I want them to know that they can do whatever they want (that honors God). But I also want them to know that I believe finding a spouse who loves and honors you as of before himself and raising a family together is one of the greatest blessings this world has to offer.”
She added, “Affirming motherhood and praising your wife, as well as highlighting the sacrifice and dedication it takes to be a mother, is not bigoted. It is empowering to acknowledge that a woman’s hard work in raising children is not in vain. Countless highly educated women devote their lives to nurturing and guiding their children. Someone disagreeing with you doesn’t make them hateful; it simply means they have a different opinion.”
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She also said she thinks “society desperately needs dedicated men and women to raise up and train the next generation in the way they should go.”
Tavia and Clark Hunt have two daughters Gracie, 25, and Ava, 18, along with a son Knobel, 20.
Gracie shared her own thoughts on Butker’s speech, telling Fox News’ Fox & Friends, “I’ve had the most incredible mom who had the ability to stay home and be with us as kids growing up. And I understand that there are many women out there who can’t make that decision. But for me and my wife, I know it was really formative and in shaping me and my siblings into who we are.”
The Kansas City official X account doxxed Butker following his speech, stating, “Just a reminder that Harrison Butker lives in the City of [redacted].” AG Bailey asked Mayor Lucas to hand over all documents relating to that tweet.
“Missourians of faith deserve to know why Kansas City officials decided to attack Mr. Butker for his deeply held religious beliefs,” he said. “My office will not tolerate religious discrimination from City officials. I will enforce the Missouri Human Rights Act to ensure Missourians are not targeted for their free exercise of religion. The mayor needs to immediately turn over his office’s communications relating to this post.”
UPDATE, 5/16/24: The NFL has publicly disavowed Harrison Butker’s remarks made in a personal capacity at a Benedictine College commencement ceremony this past weekend. Butker’s remarks have incensed many who have accused him of misogyny and sexism. According to the Associated Press, Jonathan Beane, NFL senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, issued a statement saying, “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.”
But from one surprising corner of the entertainment industry came a defense of Butker’s free speech: Whoopi Goldberg. In an episode of “The View,” Goldberg noted that Butker was speaking at a Catholic university and is a staunch Catholic. “I like when people say what they need to say… these are his beliefs and he is welcome to ’em. I don’t have to believe ’em. I don’t have to accept them. The ladies that were sitting in that audience do not have to respect them,” she said. “We want to give respect to people whose ideas are different from ours… the women who were sitting there, if they take his advice, good for them, they’ll be happy; if they don’t, good for them, they’ll be happy a different way….”
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Whoopi Goldberg defended Harrison Butker and totally nailed it. pic.twitter.com/NYEz72Y1PR
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) May 16, 2024
In the court of public opinion, the most controversial aspects of Butker’s speech didn’t have to do with abortion.
At one point during his speech, Butker spoke directly to the female graduates, saying, “For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives. I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? 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 the world.”
He went on to speak about his wife, saying, “I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I’m on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.”
For this comment, which received 18 seconds of applause, according to the National Catholic Register, Butker was labeled “sexist” in an online petition calling for the Chiefs to dismiss him. The City of Kansas City even doxxed him on social media before issuing an apology.
Butker also spoke about the importance of fatherhood and how being a father is a more important role than NFL player or businessman. It’s because of his wife he said, that “I never let football or my business become a distraction from that of a husband and father.” For Butker, family is the most important thing.
Butker also mentioned “Pride Month”, calling it a “deadly sin sort of pride that has a month dedicated to it.” Critics called him “homophobic, anti-trans.”
5/15/24: Super Bowl champion kicker and Catholic Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs gave the commencement address at Benedictine College’s graduation ceremony in Kansas on Saturday, highlighting major concerns of today’s society. After criticizing President Biden’s pro-abortion stance, he challenged the Catholic college’s graduates to speak out against evil.
“[B]eing Catholic alone doesn’t cut it,” he said while speaking of President Biden’s Catholicism and his efforts to expand and promote abortion.
“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,” he continued. “He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.”
Butker noted that some of the top concerns for this generation are the issues of abortion, euthanasia, IVF, and surrogacy.
“Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues,” Butker said. “Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.”
“These are the sorts of things we are told in polite society to not bring up— you know, the difficult and unpleasant things. But if we are going to be men and women for this time in history we need to stop pretending that the ‘Church of Nice’ is a winning proposition. We must always speak and act in charity, but never mistake charity for cowardice.”
Butker, who has used his platform to speak out against abortion in the past, told the graduates, “Our Catholic faith has always been counter-cultural…. The world around us says that we should keep our beliefs to ourselves…. We fear speaking truth because now unfortunately truth is in the minority.”
He urged the graduates to never be afraid. “Make no mistake,” said Butker, “you are entering into mission territory in a post-God world, but you were made for this and with God by your side and a constant striving for virtue within your vocation, you too can be a saint.”
