Harrison Butker is speaking out about his controversial commencement speech, saying he’s “saddened” by some reactions to his May 2024 comments about women being stay-at-home moms.
“I’m definitely saddened [some people] took it in a poor manner,” the Kansas City Chiefs kicker, 29, said on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle on Thursday, October 10. “I was talking to a specific crowd that I think was able to understand what I was trying to say.”
He continued: “But I was trying to speak life for so many women that have dedicated their life to being the homemaker, being the one that raises the children. And it’s a beautiful role, but it’s not a role that should be diminished.”
During his speech at Benedictine College’s graduation in Atchison, Kansas in May, Butker notably went after LGBTQIA+ rights, slammed IVF as a family planning method, and asserted that there are “diabolical lies told to women” about working outside of the home.
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Butker, who appeared on Fox News alongside Republican senator Josh Hawley, told host Laura Ingraham that it was, perhaps, “countercultural to speak those values,” but he wanted to shed light on the sacrifices his mother, Elizabeth Butker, and wife, Isabelle Butker, made for his family.
“There’s nothing shameful if you are a woman and you want to spend time with your family and raise your children, so it’s not putting down anyone who maybe wants to go get a great education and have a career,” he said. “But it’s more talking about how beautiful it is for women to maybe just step aside and prioritize their family and spend time with their children and raise their family. And that’s what I was just trying to speak love about.”
Harrison and Isabelle, 28, share three children — son James, 5, and two other kids whose names and ages have yet to be disclosed.
In his speech, Butker praised Isabelle for allowing him to be an NFL player, saying, “It cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the [Catholic] faith and become my wife and embrace one of the most important titles of all — homemaker.”
The three-time Super Bowl champion also spoke directly to female graduates at the time, telling them: “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, 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.”
Butker’s comments received criticism from the likes of Maria Shriver, Serena Williams, Hoda Kotb and Flava Flav. His Chiefs teammate Travis Kelce — whose girlfriend, Taylor Swift, is the richest female musician in the world with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion — said he doesn’t agree with Butker’s stance on womanhood but still supports him as a friend.
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“I can’t say I agree with the majority of it or just about any of it outside of just him loving his family and his kids and I don’t think that I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views, of how to go about life. That’s just not who I am,” he said on his “New Heights” podcast in May.
Travis’ brother Jason Kelce agreed, adding, “There’s always going to be opinions that everybody shares that you’re going to disagree with. And make no mistake about it, a lot of the things he said in his commencement speech are not things that I align myself with. But, he’s giving a commencement speech at a Catholic university, and, shocker, it ended up being a very religious and Catholic speech.”
