Sen. Josh Hawley is defending Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, who railed against Pride month, working women, President Biden’s actions during the COVID-19 pandemic and abortion during a commencement address at Benedictine College last weekend.

Butker, who has made his conservative Catholic beliefs well known, began his address by attacking what he called “dangerous gender ideologies” in an apparent reference to Pride month, which has been celebrated in June since the Stonewall riots in 1969. He also criticized an article by The Associated Press highlighting a shift toward conservativism in some parts of the Catholic Church.

The 28-year-old Butker then took aim at Biden's policies, including his response to COVID-19, which has killed nearly 1.2 million people in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“While COVID might have played a large role throughout your formative years, it is not unique,” he said. “The bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for the degenerate cultural values and media all stem from pervasiveness of disorder.”

Hawley, a Repubican who has called Butker a friend in social media posts and appeared with him at a Springfield conference in April aimed at stronger men, shared that portion of the speech on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“I posted a clip where he talks about not being too nice when you’re standing up for your convictions, and I think his expression was the church of nice and I just think he’s right about that,” Hawley told Spectrum News Wednesday.

“We need a different generation of kids that are willing to say no that’s not right, there is such a thing as right and wrong, I’m not going to go in for all of this lefty garbage and I just thought that his calls for folks to stand up and be bold was great,” he said.

Lucas Kunce, the leading Democrat running to unseat Hawley in November, criticized Hawley for claiming to support IVF while amplifying Butker’s speech.

Hawley has opposed abortion and his wife, Erin was on the legal team that successfully argued to have Roe vs. Wade overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022. In this current term she argued a case that would impact access to the abortion medication mifepristone. 

A spokesperson for Hawley said the Senator remains in support of IVF and legal protections for it.

During the speech, Butker later addressed the women in the audience, arguing that their “most important title” should be that of “homemaker.”

The Chiefs declined to comment on Butker's commencement address.

The 2017 seventh-round pick out of Georgia Tech has become of the NFL's best kickers, breaking the Chiefs' franchise record with a 62-yard field goal in 2022. Butker helped them win their first Super Bowl in 50 years in 2020, added a second Lombardi Trophy in 2023, and he kicked the field goal that forced overtime in a Super Bowl win over San Francisco in February.