One group held what it called a “Rosary Rally” outside Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s home on Sunday in response to the video that critics say mocked the receiving of communion by Catholics. The rally, organized by Catholic Vote, called out Whitmer for a social media video in which she wore a campaign hat promoting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and fed Doritos brand snack chips to a kneeling liberal podcast and social media influencer named Liz Plank.
The video continued a trend in which one person, acting in a sensual manner, is fed by another person who stares uncomfortably into the camera while the song “Dilemma” by Nelly and Kelly Rowland can be heard, Fox News reported.
The intent of the video, according to the governor's office, was to promote the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act that commits taxpayers to almost $53 billion to boost technology production in the U.S. But did highlighting technology have to include belittling the Catholic sacrament of Holy Communion?
Whitmer apologized through a statement issued to a Detroit television Fox 2:
"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,” the statement read.
Former priest Frank Pavone isn't buying it, arguing that the underlying meaning from a state governor is that current U.S. leadership at the federal level is grossly anti-Catholic.
“Everybody knows exactly what that gesture is. Everybody knows whether they share the Catholic faith or not; and it's like, how in the world do you not realize the impact this is going to have?” the former priest said on American Family Radio Monday.
Taking Whitmer’s apology at face values portrays a person of limited intelligence – or worse, one with callous disregard for people of faith – holding the highest elected office in Michigan, he told show host Jenna Ellis.
“If we're going to take somebody at their word [when they say] ‘Oh, I didn't intend to insult,’ then we have to come to the conclusion that they're just clueless. The other conclusion, of course, is that they are intentionally doing a hateful, disrespectful act."
You can say one thing, but what do you really believe?
Whitmer, a Democrat, is all in for the Harris-Walz effort to win the White House. As such, her actions should be considered symbolic of the campaign’s beliefs and intentions, Pavone argued – adding that ultimately, actions expose the heart.
“… When you look at the [Democratic] Party – and Whitmer is in there 1,000%, Harris-Walz, all of them – the position they are taking right now on key issues is anti-Catholic. It’s as simple as that," Pavone said. "And if that's where you're rooted, then things like this are going to happen very easily because … on some level you’re going to realize, ‘Hey, this is going to insult Catholics,’ and on another level you say, ‘You know what? That's exactly what I want to do because I despise these people.’”
The CHIPS Act provides $280 billion for U.S. research in science, technology, engineering, math and semiconductor manufacturing. Companies are eligible for $39 billion in subsidies through the legislation for chips produced in the U.S.
The former priest contends that any net gain in trying to win support for the CHIPS Act is lost in Whitmer’s mocking of communion.
"It’s one more act in which Democrats say, 'I despise this religion.' Why? This religion stands in [their] way because Catholicism is one of the world's strongest bulwarks against abortion,” Pavone said.
Abortion, presented publicly as a woman’s “reproductive rights,” is one of the core tenets of the Harris-Walz campaign. “These people are taking us down the road of more and more abortion,” Pavone added.
He finds irony in the way Harris presents abortion as freedom. “The Catholic Church stands for freedom [but] these people want tyranny. This is where they're coming from, and that's why it's going to result in bizarre, insulting acts like this – acts that insult [not only] Catholics but all Christians and believers.”
Believers unite in response to Whitmer mockery
Pavone said the “outcry” from people of other Christian faiths has been encouraging for Catholics.
“I keep hearing it out on the road as we do voter training: so many citizens saying this election has boiled down to just a pure, explicit fight between good and evil," he shared. "If they keep making videos like this, more and more voters are going to come to that conclusion. I think that's good because it's going to motivate more believers to get out and vote. Too many of them don't.”
He also expects it will motivate believers to pray. “As our Lord said, some things are dealt with only by prayer and fasting. There are demons at work here behind the scenes, and more and more on the scenes as well,” Pavone noted.
