Chiefs Kicker's Commencement Speech Sparks Divided Media Coverage

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."