Catholics claim "bigotry" after Gretchen Whitmer feeds podcast host a chip
The Michigan governor was participating in a viral meme. Conservatives want to turn it into a scandal.
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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is being needlessly criticized by conservative Catholics after she participated in a TikTok meme that some attention-seeking religious leaders claim mocks their faith.
The meme involves people recording themselves taking a bite of food… only to have the camera turn to show that it’s their friend who’s actually feeding them (and the friend is not happy about it at all).
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Stephen Colbert did the same damn thing earlier this summer:
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Why is any of this amusing? Beats me. I’m old. But that’s how memes work.
On Thursday, Whitmer recorded her own version of that meme with podcaster Liz Plank. In the short video, which was taped alongside a longer interview segment called “Chip Chat,” Plank eats a Dorito chip, and then we see that Whitmer is the one feeding her. Same basic camera setup. Same music. It’s the meme. That’s obviously what they were trying to do. And because this was an interview done to boost the Democratic ticket in Michigan, the caption naturally highlighted the CHIPS Act, which Donald Trump would put “at risk” if he got re-elected.
Was the video funny? Your mileage may vary. But it’s obvious that they were just recreating the viral bit. (Plank said as much online.)
Obvious to everyone except Catholic leaders, that is.
The Michigan Catholic Conference soon released a statement condemning the video because they claimed Whitmer was actually mocking the Eucharist:
“The skit goes further than the viral online trend that inspired it, specifically imitating the posture and gestures of Catholics receiving the Holy Eucharist, in which we believe that Jesus Christ is truly present,” said Paul A. Long, Michigan Catholic Conference President and CEO. “It is not just distasteful or ‘strange;’ it is an all-too-familiar example of an elected official mocking religious persons and their practices. While dialogue on this issue with the governor’s office is appreciated, whether or not insulting Catholics and the Eucharist was the intent, it has had an offensive impact.
It’s such a weird take in part because Whitmer has no history or reason to go after Catholics. If she wanted to offend the Church, she would do something they absolutely hate, like making sure women have access to reproductive health care. She wouldn’t waste her time with a chip.
Remember: Colbert did the same thing and he’s so Catholic he was invited to meet Pope Francis.
But once the Catholic group spoke out, the tabloids jumped into the fray, with the New York Post and Fox News pretending this was a bigger deal than it actually was. Bill Donohue, the overpaid head of the right-wing Catholic League, went even further, pretending this was “an expression of vintage anti-Catholic bigotry.”
What Whitmer did was to deride Holy Communion. There is no wiggle room for her to deny the obvious.
…
What Whitmer did is political suicide.
It was a chip, Bill.
Political suicide is when you give a speech to the Detroit Economic Club and tell the audience how shitty Detroit is. Like Trump did last week.
These Catholic blowhards aren’t serious people. They’re attention seekers with no sense of humor who want to inject themselves into every story, even when it doesn’t concern them.
Still, to stop the outcry, Whitmer’s office released a statement on Friday night stating the obvious:
"Over 25 years in public service, I would never do something to denigrate someone's faith. I’ve used my platform to stand up for people’s right to hold and practice their personal religious beliefs. My team has spoken to the Michigan Catholic Conference. What was supposed to be a video about the importance of the CHIPS Act to Michigan jobs, has been construed as something it was never intended to be, and I apologize for that."
I don’t believe she needed to apologize but okay. That should be the end of it. It wasn’t anti-Catholic but people who want to turn harmless events into giant scandals have plenty of practice. (Remember the idiotic war against Bud Light?) This wasn’t offensive. Any misintepretation was unintentional. Normal people would move on.
If these people gave a damn about desecrating religion, they should criticize Trump for selling Chinese-made Bibles at a premium cost, but you’ll never hear Donohue or these bishops call out Trump for anything because this is all a political game for them. Faith is the least of their worries.
They’re more upset by a governor feeding someone a Dorito chip than priests molesting children in their own organizations. That alone is why you shouldn’t take them seriously.
The irony is that Donohue knows damn well he’s full of shit because he even acknowledges the meme in his rant:
They are saying she was merely mimicking a popular trend on social media where people are shown feeding each other. Some apologists even say this is being done to support the CHIPS Act, a bill that supports the semiconductor industry.
This is a lie…
She was participating in the trend. And it’s not apologists saying this was about the CHIPS Act. The caption on the video said that!
Donohue, however, has never let facts get in the way of his whining. It seems like his allies aren’t interested in that either.
Not to beat a dead horse, but I'm more than a little offended by how the Catholic Church spent centuries circling the wagons and protecting the pedophile priests while blaming their victims. I'm also a little miffed by the countless thousands the church had burned alive in the name of religion and morality. I will admit to being a sour old Vietnam veteran, but those things upset me far more than sticking a Dorito in someone's mouth. There is a message in how easily the church gets offended as it speaks to just shallow and fragile their faith really is.
Yeah, leave our ritual cannibalism alone.