(The Hill) — The Catholic League criticized Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Friday for posting a video showing her feeding a Dorito to a podcaster, with the group accusing her of mocking the Eucharist.
Podcaster Liz Plank posted a video on her Instagram showing herself being fed a Dorito by Whitmer, who’s standing above Plank. The camera turns to Whitmer who offers the camera a serious expression while wearing Harris-Walz campaign gear.
It would appear the Catholic League took issue with the positioning of Plank in the video, which Catholic League President Bill Donohue claims shows Plank “kneeling” and “receiving food on the tongue,” as one would during Holy Communion.
“Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer insulted Catholics nationwide when she intentionally ridiculed the Eucharist in a video,” Donohue wrote in a statement. He added: “There is no way to understand this stunt other than as an expression of vintage anti-Catholic bigotry. Whitmer’s team, and her allies in the media, are trying to distort what she did.”
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But Plank’s video follows a meme format of many similar TikTok videos, which include a similar dynamic of people being fed with the song “Dilemma,” by Nelly and Kelly Rowland playing in the background. Plank’s video — and its inclusion of Doritos — were intended to be in support of the CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed into law by Pres. Biden in 2022 and aimed to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S.
“Chips aren’t just delicious, the CHIPS Act is a game-changer for U.S. tech and manufacturing, boosting domestic production of semiconductors to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers! Donald Trump would put that at risk,” Plank wrote in the video’s caption.
Donohue derided the idea that the post was meant to be in support of semiconductor legislation.
“There are indeed many clips of people feeding each other on social media, but there is no reference to the CHIPS Act, nor are they eating chips. The typical video on TikTok shows one person sitting at a table, often in a restaurant, being fed — usually with a fork or spoon — by a friend,” he argued.
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“None of them are kneeling. None of them are receiving food on the tongue,” he added, though it’s unclear from the video whether Plank is kneeling or not. “What Whitmer did was to deride Holy Communion. There is no wiggle room for her to deny the obvious.”
Helene Hare, a spokeswoman for Whitmer’s Fight Like Hell PAC, responded to Catholic League’s criticism noting in a statement that “the governor’s social media is well known for infusing her communications with pop culture.”
“This popular trend has been used by countless people, including Billie Eilish to Kylie Jenner to Stephen Colbert, and the fact that people are paying attention to a video promoting President Biden’s CHIPS Act proves it’s working,” she explained. “Republicans want to distract from the fact that Democrats have invested billions of dollars into local economies to create a record number of jobs and bring supply chains back from overseas, while Donald Trump’s policies would kill these jobs and send them back to China.”
The remarks come less than a month before the election as both Vice President Harris and former President Trump make their case to voters in the battleground states, such as Pennsylvania where Catholics make up a key voting bloc.
