The Kansas City Chiefs will return to the White House on Friday for the second straight year to celebrate their Super Bowl victory. Kansas City squeaked by the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime in Super Bowl LVIII.
Along with quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, who stole the show last year with a comedic bit at the podium, Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is expected to be in attendance.
Butker criticized Joe Biden for how the president handled several issues, including abortion and the COVID-19 pandemic, in a commencement address at Benedictine College earlier this month. Butker also questioned Biden’s devotion to Catholicism.
“While COVID might have played a large role throughout your formative years, it is not unique,” Butker said. “Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as the growing support for degenerate cultural values in media all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.
“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 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.”
When asked about Butker’s attendance last week, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: “Honestly, what I can say is we invite the entire team and we do that always. 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.”
The Chiefs’ visit at the White House is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. ET.
Butker attended the Super Bowl celebration ceremony at the White House last year, and he was one of the few players — along with Mahomes, Kelce and pass rusher Chris Jones — who stood directly behind Biden during the president’s remarks about the Chiefs’ 2022 season.
Following Butker’s commencement address, Mahomes said he didn’t agree with all of Butker’s comments, but considered him a close friend and “good person.” Kelce said he didn’t agree with “the majority” of Butker’s speech but “he’s treated friends and family that I’ve introduced to him with nothing but respect and kindness.”
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Last year, 47 of the 56 Chiefs players who played a snap last season attended. Before the Chiefs accepted Biden’s invitation last year, just one of the NFL’s past five championship teams — the 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers — visited the White House. When former President Donald Trump hosted the 2016 New England Patriots, quarterback Tom Brady and 18 other players chose not to attend.
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Chiefs coach Andy Reid acknowledged last year the Chiefs — after winning Super Bowl LIV — would’ve visited the White House in the summer of 2020 if the pandemic wasn’t ongoing and had Trump offered an invitation.
“The one thing I take from this is it doesn’t matter whether you’re Democrat or Republican or Independent,” Reid said then. “It’s about unity and the opportunity to come together. I think our guys displayed that. It was a great time.”
This story will be updated.
(Photo: Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)
