Angry Taylor Swift fans call Chiefs’ Harrison Butker ‘the smallest man who ever lived

The controversial commencement speech Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker gave last weekend was, as kinder critics are calling it, “a teachable moment.”

One lesson is clear: Do not anger Taylor Swift fans.

Derision from Swifites is plentiful amid the growing backlash to Butker’s address at Benedictine College, a Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas, north of Kansas City. Butker is a devout Catholic who speaks openly about his faith and conservative politics.

He criticized President Joe Biden on several issues, referred to Pride Month as an example of the “deadly sins” and said one of a woman’s most important titles is “homemaker.”

He also referenced a Swift lyric, a self-inflicted wound because it gave her fans a reason to comment, and they are roasting him on social media for bringing her up in a speech being criticized as misogynistic.

Swift is dating Butker’s teammate Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who was with her over the weekend in Paris as she resumed her record-breaking Eras Tour.

Since the speech, a Missouri man has collected more than 19,000 signatures on a Change.org petition calling for the Chiefs to fire Butker “for discriminatory remarks.”

But Swifties are their own force, and anyone who knows this fandom predicted, and even encouraged, their response.

“Everyone knows you just don’t mess with Swifties,” one Swiftie said in her TikTok takedown of Butker.

While others watch Swifties activate, they wonder if it will diminish the affection Swift’s fans have for the Chiefs. Neither Swift nor Kelce have commented on Butker’s speech.