Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker urged Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) to bring former President Donald Trump "back in line" with a platform that would endorse a stricter stance on abortion.
Butker came to political prominence when he gave a commencement speech at Benedictine College advocating women to be homemakers, after which many accused him of being sexist.
Butker reposted Trump's Truth Social post in which the former president said, "My administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights."
Butker commented on it, saying, "No party or candidate is perfect. I implore my fellow Catholic [Vance] to help bring the Republican Party back in line with the foundational platform that all life is valuable and there can be no compromise when it comes to defending the unborn."
He ended his post with a quote. “Our obligation is to vote for the lesser of two evils because voting for a lesser evil preserves the good that could be potentially lost," he attributed to the Rev. Chad Ripperger.
Vance has in the past indicated he would support a nationwide abortion ban.
Trump has inched to the center this election cycle with his abortion stance. He previously supported a nationwide 20-week abortion ban in 2018 as president, but a bill aiming to enforce it never reached his desk.
In 2024, Trump has repeatedly said he would leave abortion rights up to the states and has redrafted the Republican Party's stance on the issue. The party's platform also leaves abortion to the states, though it also supports in vitro fertilization, birth control, and prenatal care.
Trump still feels he has "no regrets" about landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade being overturned, insisting it's a state, not a federal, issue.
Abortion is a key issue in the 2024 presidential election. Several states have abortion on the ballot, and public opinion has leaned in favor of abortion. A Pew Research Center survey showed that 59% of Catholics, like Butker and Vance, supported abortion's legality in "most/all" cases; 40% of Catholics believed it should be illegal in "most/all" cases.
Only a majority of white evangelical protestants believed abortion should be illegal in most cases, by a 73% to 25% margin; 41% of those who described themselves as Republican or lean-Republican supported abortion, while 57% didn't. Trump's recent stance is a likely appeal to the more moderate section of his party, and more-conservative Democrats.
Butker also made a religious comment on the first night of the Democratic National Convention.
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"America needs more Jesus not less," Butker said, reposting a video of Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich.
"We need our shepherds to fearlessly lead and not be afraid to proclaim that Christ is King. It starts with bishops boldly wearing their pectoral cross outside their jackets."
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