Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotb slammed NFL star Harrison Butker after he gave a controversial speech telling women to embrace becoming housewives.
On Thursday’s episode of “Today With Hoda & Jenna,” Bush Hager credited her husband, Henry Hager, with treating her like an “equal partner.”
“Who is (Butker) to tell us? ” she joked, to which Kotb added, “Don’t speak for us. I think that’s kind of the thing. Stop speaking for women.
Both reporters applauded those who are stay-at-home parents, while pointing out that some couples don’t have the luxury of having only one parent stay home with the children.
“It’s an elitist concept to begin with,” said Bush Hager, 42.
“I think there’s something about someone speaking for (someone),” Kotb, 59, said. “And (Butker) maybe speaks for a lot of people, but you can’t speak for everyone.
She added: “Women decide what they want to do. »
Kotb and Bush Hager’s remarks come nearly a week after the Kansas City Chiefs kicker, 28, delivered a sexist and anti-LGBTQIA+ commencement speech at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., on Saturday.
During his speech, Butker said he had “earned a reputation for speaking my mind” before attacking President Joe Biden’s “dangerous gender ideologies” and “bad policies and leadership.”
“Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, and growing support for degenerate cultural values and media all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder,” he added.
The three-time Super Bowl champion then addressed the women in the promotion, telling them their “most important title” should be “housewife.”
“Some of you may go on to successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are very excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into the world,” he said. added.
“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 vocation as a wife and mother.”
Butker also encouraged male graduates to “be unapologetic about their masculinity” and “fight against the cultural emasculation of men.”
The kicker, whose mother is an accomplished physicist, has faced backlash for his views.
GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement to Page Six that Butker’s speech was “not only an obvious lapse, but it was inaccurate, misinformed and woefully out of step with Americans on pride, LGBTQ people and women.
And NFL senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer Jonathan Beane told People that Butker’s “views are not those of the NFL as an organization.”
“The NFL is steadfast in its commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger,” Beane added.
New York Post
