White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre evaded The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) correspondent Owen Jensen’s question on whether President Joe Biden found part of the Olympics opening ceremony offensive.
Jensen repeatedly shouted several questions without being called on to address the opening ceremony where drag performers sat around a table resembling Jesus and his disciples at The Last Supper. The ceremony sparked outrage among many Christians who saw the performance as mocking their faith.
“Did the president see The Last Supper controversy at the Olympics?” Jensen shouted out. “Do you know? Did he see—”
“I don’t have anything—I appreciate the question, I just don’t have anything to share,” Jean-Pierre said.
KJP runs from EWTN reporter asking if Biden, a Catholic, was “offended” by Olympics opening ceremony pic.twitter.com/aPl6h5TQIL
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 30, 2024
Jensen then addressed Biden’s Catholic faith and asked again whether he shared his fellow Christians’ anger at the ceremony.
“Millions of Christians across the globe were offended by it. The president’s Christian, was he offended by it? But was the president offended by it? Did he see it?” he asked.
Jean-Pierre appeared highly exasperated as she immediately moved onto the next question.
Thomas Jolly, the director of the ceremony, said the performance adopted inspiration from pagan celebrations rather than Christianity, where he highlighted the use of Greek God Dionysus, according to Deadline. (RELATED: ‘So Frustrated With Religion’: ‘The View’ Co-Host Sara Haines Rages At Christians Upset By Drag Olympics Opening)
“It’s not my inspiration and that should be pretty obvious. There’s Dionysus arriving on a table. Why is he there? First and foremost because he is the god of celebration in Greek mythology and the tableau is called ‘Festivity,'” Jolly said, according to Deadline. “He is also the god of wine, which is also one of the jewels of France, and the father of Séquana, the goddess of the river Seine,” he continued. “The idea was to depict a big pagan celebration, linked to the gods of Olympus, and thus the Olympics.”
Producers involved with the project reportedly said in a statement that The Last Supper did inspire the scene, but argued Jolly did not intend to show any “disrespect” toward Christians, according to The Wrap.
Biden has faced scrutiny by Christians regarding his pro-abortion stance and for proclaiming Easter Sunday 2024 as “Transgender Day of Visibility.” Father Robert E. Morey, a Catholic priest at Saint Anthony Catholic Church in South Carolina, denied Holy Communion to Biden over his pro-abortion stance on October 28, 2019.
San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone told the Daily Caller News Foundation in 2021 that pro-abortion Catholics including Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should not receive communion if they “are unwilling or unable to abandon” their “advocacy for abortion.”
A Pew Research Center poll from May 3 found 55% of Catholic voters would vote for former President Donald Trump over Biden, while 43% would back the incumbent president.
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