Fox anchor applauds Kansas City Chiefs kicker's controversial remarks
Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham applauded Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker on Thursday after he gave controversial speech including remarks on women in the workforce.
Butker’s commencement speech at Benedictine College made clear his conservative politics, including attacks on in vitro fertilization, surrogacy, gay pride marches, “degenerate cultural values,” abortion, and President Joe Biden.
The three-time Super Bowl champion told the women of the crowd that talk of their careers was the “most diabolical lies.”
“Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world,” Butker said. “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.”
Ingraham lauded Butker for the remarks, saying his words took “courage.”
“At a time, though, when woke secularists dominate media, corporate America, Hollywood, and most universities, being a public witness to your Christian faith? Now that takes courage because speaking out may actually mean that you lose everything,” she said.
Ingraham denounced the NFL for distancing itself from Butker’s remarks after they were criticized as sexist, but also fought back against the claims of sexism.
“He wasn’t saying that women should stay at home or women should never be doctors or lawyers or whatever they want to be or own their own businesses,” she said. “He said that one of the most important titles of all… homemaker. Well, because home matters. You might have thought he issued a decree that women may never work again though.”
Butker drew widespread ire over the speech after it went viral online, with commenters quick to point out that Butker’s own mother is an accomplished medical physicist. The Los Angeles Chargers, the Chief’s rivals, even poked fun at Butker in the team’s schedule release video by posing him in a kitchen.
Ingraham’s comments were far different from her reaction to other professional athlete’s political statements. When NBA star LeBron James spoke out against former President Trump in 2018, Ingraham infamously told him to “Shut up and dribble.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) similarly backed Butker on Thursday, posting that he is “never more proud to call Harrison Butker my friend.”
“The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg also defended Butker in the midst of the backlash.
“These are his beliefs and he’s welcome to them,” Goldberg said during an episode of “The View” on Thursday. “I don’t have to believe them. Right? I don’t have to accept them.”
Updated at 10:52 pm EST.