Gracie Hunt, the daughter of Kansas City Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt, defended kicker Harrison Butker against the major backlash over his commencement speech at a Catholic college.
Hunt said she has much respect for Butker and his Catholic faith during an interview with “Fox & Friends” host Steve Doocy and resonated with his encouragement for women to value marriage and motherhood over a career.
“Well, I can only speak from my own experience which is I’ve had the most incredible mom who had the ability to stay home and be with us as kids growing up. And I understand there are women out there who can’t make that decision, but for me in my life, I know it was very formative in shaping me and my siblings to be who we are,” Hunt said.
“So you understand what he was talking about,” Doocy said.
“For sure,” she replied. “And I really respect Harrison and his Christian faith and what he’s accomplished on and off the field.”
Calls have mounted for the Chiefs to fire Butker for his encouragement and appraisal of homemakers, notably his own wife, whom he credited for his success. He further criticized President Joe Biden’s leadership on the “dangerous gender ideologies” during Pride Month and the “poor life” decisions made by women, such as abortion, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy. (RELATED: Kansas City Goes After Harrison Butker Over His Conservative Beliefs, Tries To Apologize After)
Tavia Hunt, the wife of the Chiefs chairman, turned to Instagram in support of stay-at-home mothers and in defense of Butker.
“Affirming motherhood and praising your wife, as well as highlighting the sacrifice and dedication it takes to be a mother, is not bigoted,” she wrote. “It is empowering to acknowledge that a woman’s hard work in raising children is not vain. Countless highly educated women devoted their lives to nurturing and guiding their children.”
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A petition calling for the dismissal of Butker garnered nearly 177,000 signatures as of Friday morning. Willard Harris, the organizer behind the petition, lamented Butker’s remarks as “sexist, homophobic, anti-trans, anti-abortion and racist.”
“The harmful remarks made by Harrison Butker, kicker of the Kansas City Chiefs, during his commencement address at Benedictine College were unacceptable. His comments were sexist, homophobic, anti-trans, anti-abortion and racist. These dehumanizing remarks against LGBTQ+ individuals, attacks on abortion rights and racial discrimination perpetuate division and undermine human rights,” the petition reads.
“The View” co-host Sara Haines accused Butker of promoting the so-called “cult-like” and “extreme” beliefs of Latin mass attendees, though the athlete spoke of the Catholic Church’s official stances on abortion, gay marriage, IVF, surrogacy and gender ideology.
Kansas City’s official Twitter account doxxed Butker by announcing the town where he resides in a now-deleted tweet. The city apologized, saying the post had been “shared in error.”
We apologies for our previous tweet. It was shared in error.
— Kansas City (@KansasCity) May 16, 2024
CatholicVote wrote a letter to National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell and Chiefs Chairman Clark Hunt about the “anti-Catholic bigotry” and “growing hatred, intimidation, and now threats of violence” against Butker and other Americans who share his faith.