Harrison Butker and Karine Jean-Pierre (Photos via Getty Images and Mediaite)
A CNN reporter questioned White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about whether Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is still welcome at the White House, given that his recent remarks have caused a stir in the media and among social media users.

Butker’s remarks during last week’s commencement speech at Benedictine College, a private Catholic school, set off a political firestorm. He attacked President Biden and abortion rights while simultaneously applauding his wife for her job as a “homemaker.”

On Friday, a CNN reporter questioned press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about Harrison Butker’s status as a participant in the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebrations at the White House.

According to Jean-Pierre, Butker and the rest of the team are still invited.

“What I can say is all of the team, per usual when there is a championship team, gets invited,” Jean-Pierre said. “I don’t have anything to add on their attendance or how that looks, but the team is always invited. Everyone on the team is invited.”

“What I can say is we invite the entire team, and we do that always,” she continued after further questioning. “I don’t have anything beyond that. … We invite the team. It’s an invitation that goes to the team, and so it’s up to the team who comes and who doesn’t come.”

It has been customary for almost 150 years to host sports teams in the White House. However, after Butker made overt criticism of President Joe Biden and his policies in last week’s graduating speech, some commentators questioned if he would still be permitted to visit.

In addition to railing against abortion rights and saying that Biden supports “the murder of innocent babies,” the NFL player advocated for women to put motherhood before their careers. The “tyranny” of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives was another thing he mentioned.

Said the kicker specifically about Biden, “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.”

Butker attended Kansas City’s visit to the White House in June 2023. The two-time defending champions will make another visit to Biden this Summer.

Petition To Have Harrison Butker Kicked Off The Kansas City Chiefs Has Amassed Over 200k Signatures

Harrison Butker (Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)
After Harrison Butker, the kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, delivered a misogynistic and anti-LGBTQ+ commencement speech at the ultra-conservative Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, last week, a Change.org petition was started to have Butker dismissed from the team for his discriminatory remarks.

Butker, who urged male graduates to “fight against the cultural emasculation of men,” claimed that “abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerative cultural values in media all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.”