Whoopi Goldberg Defends Harrison Butker’s Right to Speak: ‘These Are His Beliefs’

Whoopi Goldberg told her co-hosts Thursday on ABC’s “The View” that Kansas City Chief’s kicker Harrison Butker has a First Amendment right to speak about his beliefs while discussing the controversy over his college commencement speech at Benedictine College.

Goldberg said, “So, the NFL released a statement that he gave this speech in his personal capacity, and they do not, the NFL does not share his views. So, you know, listen, I like when people say what they need to say. He’s at a Catholic college. He is a staunch Catholic. These are his beliefs, and he’s welcome to them. I don’t have to believe them. I don’t have to accept them. The ladies that were sitting in that audience do not have to accept them. The same way we want respect when Colin Kaepernick takes a knee, we want to give respect to people whose ideas are different from ours.”

She added, “Because the man who says he wants to be president, you-know-who, he says the way to act is take away people’s right to say how they feel. We don’t want to be that. We don’t want to be those people, so I’m okay with him saying whatever he says. The women who were sitting there, if they take his advice, good for them, they’ll be happy, if they don’t, good for them, they’ll be happy a different way. That’s my attitude.”

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