Harrison Butker Addresses Reaction to His Controversial Speech, Says It's ‘Beautiful’ for Women to ‘Step Aside'

Harrison Butker gets candid about the backlash to his previous controversial comments about women in the workforce.

On Thursday, Oct. 10, the 29-year-old Kansas City Chiefs shortstop spoke to Fox News after announcing his support for Josh Hawley (right) in his bid for re-election as a senator. During a conversation with host Laura Ingraham, Butker addressed the reaction to his speech at the ceremony in May – in which he spoke of the “devilish lies told to women” about working instead of being homemakers.

“I’m definitely sad [some people] he took it in a bad way,” Butker, who appeared in the interview alongside Hawley, told Ingraham. “I was speaking to a certain audience that I think understood what I was trying to say.”

“But I was trying to talk about the lives of so many women who have dedicated their lives to being homemakers, the ones who raise children,” he explained. “And it’s a beautiful role, but it’s not a role that should be downplayed.”

Harrison Butker #7 of the Kansas City Chiefs warms up before the game against the Philadelphia Eagles prior to Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona.

Cooper Neill/Getty

Harrison Butker is doubling down on controversial comments attacking working women and the LGBTQ+ community

The NFL player said it’s “maybe” “countercultural to talk about those values,” but noted that it’s something he’s watched his mother, Elizabeth Butker, who is a successful physicist, and his wife, Isabelle Butker, do at home.

“There’s nothing shameful if you’re a woman and you want to spend time with your family and raise your children, so it’s not putting anyone down who might want to get a great education and have a career,” he said.

“But there’s more talk about how nice it is for women to maybe just step back and prioritize their family and spend time with their kids and raise their family. And that’s what I was just trying to talk about about love,” he added.

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The Kansas City Chiefs forward previously made headlines after his speech at Benedictine College on May 11, in which he expressed his views on topics including in vitro fertilization (IVF), abortion and surrogacy, and said Pride Month represented “deadly sins.”

Harrison also addressed the female students directly and talked about his wife’s decision to become a homemaker instead of working.

“To the ladies here today, congratulations on an incredible achievement,” he said at the time. “I want to speak to you directly for a moment because I think you women have been the ones who have been told the most diabolical lies.”

“Some of you may have successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that most of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world,” Butker continued.

Harrison Butker, Isabelle Butker and their baby after the Chiefs beat the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship game on January 19, 2020 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Jamie Squire/Getty

Patrick Mahomes says Harrison Butker is ‘a good person’ but ‘said some things I don’t agree with’

“I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly began when she began to live her calling as a wife and mother,” he added.

The comments sparked a backlash, including from several stars such as Katy Perry, Flavor Flav, Maria Shriver, the latter of whom wrote on X at the time, “As a woman who has embraced my calling to live a meaningful life inside and outside the home not only raising good people but also uplifting our country in various ways, I think it’s demeaning to women to imply that their choices outside of wifehood and motherhood fade compared to that of a housewife.”

“It took a revolution for women to get the right to vote, for women to get birth control pills, for women to be able to put their name on a checking account, for them to be given maternity leave, to get them anything even remotely fair, to be elected to office, to get them to where they are today!” Shriver added.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education