Whitmer Disrespects the Eucharist, Insults Catholics

The latest disrespect for the Eucharist comes from Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer who, in an online video posting, appears to mock receiving Communion. 

The Wolverine State Democrat is shown standing with a bag of Doritos, feeding one to a social media “influencer,” Liz Plank, who kneels before the governor, opens her mouth, and receives a chip on the tongue. The camera then pans back to Whitmer with the Doritos bag, wearing a Harris-Walz cap.

Whitmer has since denied any intention of defaming the Eucharist or insulting Catholics, and she offered an apology. She explained the stunt—and her praetorian votaries defend it—as some sort of contemporary “social media challenge” of feeding somebody and that the Doritos were an allusion to the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, one of the signature achievements of the Biden-Harris Administration which Whitmer claims to have wanted to showcase for its job-producing benefits for swing state Michigan.

I hope Catholics recognize when they are being gaslighted.

Whitmer’s profanation—like the so-called “non-Last Supper” that was really actually a “Dionysian” feast showcased as part of the Paris Olympics opening ceremonies last August—is, of course, explained away as you didn’t see what you just saw and can’t unsee. The one positive thing about the current controversy is that you don’t have the usual gaggle of liberal and/or confused Catholics stretching themselves into pretzels to defend the gaslight. Whitmer’s profanation—like the so-called “non-Last Supper” that was really actually a “Dionysian” feast showcased as part of the Paris Olympics opening ceremonies last August—is explained away as you didn’t see what you just saw. Tweet This

Let’s look at the only possible explanations: either this is a desecration of the ritual of Communion, or Gretchen is so unfamiliar with that central act of the Catholic and Orthodox faith (with parallels in some Protestant groups) as to be clueless (something not to be excluded a priori regarding the incumbent governor of Michigan).  

As for the former, well—“if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are it’s a duck.” So, if you are extending a wafer-like substance toward somebody kneeling in front of you who closes her eyes as she opens her mouth to “receive” what is offered, well, that looks pretty much like a Communion ritual. Perhaps it’s unfamiliar to Michiganians, as kneeling for and receiving Communion on the tongue are likely rare in the very “progressive” Metropolitan Province of Detroit. But, hey, I’ll bet some folks do remember it.

As for the latter, well—Gretchen would have you believe she was the innocent victim of a social media “challenge” to feed another person on video and you thought it was a Communion rite. In other words, it’s your issue, an implicit blaming of the victim.  

Think about it, though. A video like this, targeted for a political ad campaign to promote a national presidential candidate, does not happen without lots of people plugged into it. But then look at the video. You then have to say that all those people were aware of some eccentric online “challenge” about “feeding” other people that was perfectly intelligible to all of them (and not to the rest of us illiterati) or somebody in that whole productions-and-approvals process recognized the allusion to the Eucharist and said either “go ahead” or “I don’t care.” Either response should be damning for Democrats among Catholics.  

This video speaks to the intellectual vacuity and tone deafness of the Harris campaign: they are acutely aware of what a cabal of “influencers” in need of lives think about the latest of social media trends, but they are absolutely dumb about what 1.7 million Catholics in Michigan and 60 million nationwide would see in that video. They pander to the “influencers” but diss the “deplorables.”

Let’s step back a moment from the sheltered world of Gretchen’s “social media influencers.” Let’s take Gretch at her word, that this was an ad for the Biden-Harris CHIPS Act.  

Semiconductors are a critical technology. It’s why there are limited production sites and why we don’t want them in Communist Chinese hands. (I wonder if Whitmer has any PRC advisors on staff. Or is that just a New York thing?) If your point is how important semiconductors are to America’s future prosperity, wouldn’t you talk about that? What is the connection between a relatively sophisticated piece of technology like a semiconductor (whose production many politicians have exported) versus a relatively unsophisticated piece of fried grain like a corn chip (which is the kind of “productivity” those politicians have bequeathed to Americans domestically)? Who “eats” semiconductors? And should we prostrate ourselves before technology?  

In other words, on Gretchen’s own terms, the video ad as produced makes little sense except to perhaps a small demographic who is already in Harris’ pocket.

Let me add that, in fact, I thought the act had a sexualized undercurrent: one of dominance and submission. Is the person in power “giving” something to the suppliant public for which it ought to be grateful? Can you imagine the reaction if Republicans featured a woman kneeling before some GOP politician “feeding” her? Can you picture the outrage the establishment’s talking heads would collectively voice?

Compare it to the efforts to shush this controversy.

Catholics need to wake up: Democrats need Catholic votes to get or stay in power, but they have no respect for your principles or concerns. They expect you to act like Democratic Catholic politicians: note the order of the adjectives, which should tell you your priorities.  

Catholic voters—in Michigan and elsewhere—need to figure out what those priorities are.