Headline Roundup • May 14th, 2024
Chiefs Kicker's Commencement Speech Sparks Divided Media Coverage
Joe Biden,Sports,Kansas,College Degrees,Colleges And Universities,Culture War,Abortion,Catholic Church,Life During Covid-19
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker delivered a commencement speech Saturday at Benedictine College, where his remarks on abortion and President Joe Biden caught national media attention.
Key Quotes: Butker, addressing graduates who suffered from COVID-19-related disruptions on campus, said “bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues.” He homed in on Biden’s Catholic faith and expressed the contradiction of being Catholic and pro-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 added.
For Context: Butker made similar remarks in a commencement speech at his alma mater, the Georgia Institute of Technology, in 2023.
How the Media Covered It: Media across the spectrum displayed similarities in coverage by naming Biden as the target of the speech. HuffPost (Left bias) said Butker went "Wide Right in Blasting Joe Biden," employing sensationalism while suggesting that Butker's comments were off-base. Fox News (Right Bias) said Butker went after Biden's "abortion stance as a Catholic." A writer for a sports blog on USA TODAY (Lean Left) suggested Butker's comments about his wife's "vocation as a wife and a mother" were a call for women to "stay in the kitchen."
Featured Coverage of this Story
Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Super Bowl champion kicker Harrison Butker took aim at President Biden in his commencement address at Benedictine College in Kansas on Saturday.
The Kansas City Chiefs players specifically pointed to Biden’s "delusional" stance on abortion as a member of the Catholic faith.
"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," he said, via OutKick.
"He is not alone. From the man behind the COVID lockdowns, to the people pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto...
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker waged a series of attacks against President Biden’s leadership in a recent commencement speech, criticizing the president’s policies on abortion, gender ideology and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a commencement speech last Saturday at Benedictine College — a Catholic liberal arts college in Kansas — Butker claimed the negative parts of society in recent years can be blamed on “bad leaders who don’t stay in their lanes.”
“While COVID might have played a large role throughout your formative years, it is not unique,” Butker said during his...
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker launched a right-wing screed at President Joe Biden during Saturday’s commencement at Benedictine College (Kan.). (Watch the video below.)
Butker targeted Biden’s support of abortion rights and railed at “degenerate cultural values,” “dangerous gender ideologies,” and the “tyranny of diversity, equity, and inclusion” on a platform he said was given to him by God.
The guest speaker, whose game-tying field goal extended the recent Super Bowl to overtime, where the Chiefs eventually beat the San Francisco 49ers, tried to score points with his conservative audience at the liberal arts Catholic school.
“Our...
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