On Monday, Harrison Butker, the most hated, yet highest-paid kicker in the NFL, announced UPRIGHT PAC, a political action committee, that seeks to spur Christians to vote. Never mind that current legislation in countless states—from Ohio to Louisiana—is evidence of the fact that not only do Christians vote, they get elected, Butker is putting his pigskin-punting, fascist foot forward in electoral politics anyway!
“We’re seeing our values under attack every day. In our schools, in the media, and even from our own government,” a blurb on UPRIGHT's website reads. “But we have a chance to fight back and reclaim the traditional values that have made this country great. That’s why UPRIGHT PAC was founded.”
Conveniently, Butker—who makes $6.4 million a season with the Kansas City Chiefs—launched the PAC on Instagram, alongside an endorsement of the virulently anti-abortion Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). Hawley is currently running for re-election against Democratic nominee Lucas Kunce.
"Consequential times call for consequential actions, which is why I am proud to endorse my friend Senator Josh Hawley for another term serving the great people of Missouri," Butker captioned his post. “I have seen first-hand a man who puts his Christian faith at the forefront of everything that he does - and he understands that no title or office he will ever hold will be more important than that of Husband and Father."
Missouri is one of 10 states where voters will get to weigh in on abortion in November. And last month, Hawley blatantly lied about Amendment 3, a measure that would codify the right to abortion until fetal viability in the state constitution and overturn the state’s current abortion ban, claiming that the amendment would permit gender-affirming medical care for minors without their parents’ permission.
Frankly, Butker's endorsement—and the PAC writ-large—became an inevitability the second he delivered that men’s rights diatribe barely disguised as a commencement speech in May. Should you have memory-holed it, Butker addressed the graduating class of Benedictine College, the Catholic liberal arts school known for forcing a queer-identifying basketball player to remove a Pride flag from his dorm. The 28-year-old spent his allotted 20 minutes encouraging students to denounce “dangerous gender ideologies,” and “the tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion.” Furthermore, he claimed that a woman's role is to—in essence—act only as the key that unlocks a man's potential.
“I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” Butker said. “I’m on this stage today, able to be the man that I am, because I have a wife who leans into her vocation.”
Despite a swell of backlash, Butker doubled down on the speech in a recent interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham.
"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."
You hear that, girls? Simply step aside and let yet another Christian weirdo do everything he can to dictate your lives in the name of the Old Testament and tradition!
