President Joe Biden welcomed Super Bowl winners the Kansas City Chiefs to the White House Friday – by modeling a football helmet and turning the mic over to tight end Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift’s boyfriend.
Kelce was joined by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, coach Andy Reid, kicker Harrison Butker – the player embroiled in a commencement speech controversey – and other teammates for the Chiefs second trip to the White House in two years. ‘I’d have Travis come up here but God only knows what he’d say,’ Biden teased after delivering a short speech, peppered with 2024 election jokes about liking ‘back to back’ winners.
Kelce reluctantly walked to the podium. ‘My fellow Americans. It’s nice to see you all again,’ Kelce said. ‘I’m not going to lie President Biden, they told me if I came up here, I would get tased.’ As the program ended a reporter loudly shouted, ‘Where’s Taylor Swift?’ as the pop star didn’t attend the South Lawn ceremony.
The Chiefs presented Biden with a gift – a Kansas City helmet – which the president eventually stuffed on his head. ‘Thank you very much,’ Biden said. He was able to remove it before chatting with Mahomes and Kelce at the conclusion of the event.
Afterward Mahomes and Coach Andy Reid gushed about that moment. ‘I mean we didn’t expect that. It was really cool to see that Chiefs helmet on and we’ve got that “Chiefs Kingdom” for the rest of the nation to see,’ said Mahomes. A reporter had asked the quarterback if Biden would need the helmet going into a bruising 2024 election cycle.
Mahomes ignored shouts about whether he’d endorse Biden ahead of the November vote. Reid wondered if Biden’s helmet moment made history. Listen, I don’t know how many presidents have tried on your team helmet, this might be a first and you all witnessed it,’ the longtime NFL coach said.
The White House event comes after the team’s kicker, Butker, delivered a controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College, a small Catholic college in Kansas, earlier this month. Butker told female graduates that they’ve had ‘the most diabolical lies’ told to 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 said. ‘I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,’
Butker added that his wife embraced ‘one of the most important titles of all. Homemaker.’ The kicker also made anti-LGBTQ references noting that there’s a ‘deadly sin sort of pride that has a month dedicated to it.’ And he also attacked Biden’s COVID-19 reponse, while adding that a number of things that the president supported ‘negatively impacted’ the graduates’ lives.
