President Biden on Friday welcomed the Super Bowl champion team Kansas City Chiefs to the White House for a second consecutive year, but this time with significantly more fanfare and a bit of controversy.
Kicker Harrison Butker was in attendance just weeks after he made headlines and sparked backlash with his commencement speech earlier this month in which he encouraged the women in attendance to “embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.”
Among the other attendees were Travis Kelce, the tight end who is in a highly publicized relationship with music superstar Taylor Swift, and Patrick Mahomes, the all-pro quarterback whose State Farm ads are ubiquitous during football season.
There was no mention of Kelce’s famous girlfriend or Butker’s comments during what was a celebratory event.
“Welcome back,” Biden said to applause.
“Back to back. I kind of like that,” he said, a nod to his own reelection aspirations.
The team presented Biden with a Chiefs helmet, which Biden tried on to the roars of the team.
Biden at one point quipped that he would invite Kelce up to speak, but “God only knows what he’d say.”
“I’m not going to lie, President Biden, they told me if I came up here I’d get tased, so I’m going to go back to my spot,” Kelce said after stepping up to the microphone.
The Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII in February, earning their second consecutive championship. The team visited the White House last June to celebrate its previous title.
Swift, who is in the middle of the European leg of her tour, was not at the White House Friday.
Swift endorsed Biden in 2020 and spoke out against former President Trump ahead of the election. Her endorsement would likely be a major boost for Biden with young voters, who were a key part of his coalition during the last cycle.