The Kansas City Chiefs celebrated their Super Bowl LVIII victory at the White House with President Joe Biden.
The team arrived in Washington, D.C., on Friday, May 31. Players, including Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Harrison Butker and more, took the stage as Biden, 81, addressed the Chiefs and congratulated them on their back-to-back Super Bowl wins.
“Welcome back to the White House! Super Bowl 58 Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs! The first team in 20 years to win back-to-back,” Biden said in his speech. “Winning back-to-back, I kind of like that.”
Biden went on to praise Mahomes, 28, Kelce, 34, defensive tackle Chris Jones and coach Andy Reid as “future hall of famers” for their success on the team. After welcoming everyone to the celebration, the president reflected on the Chiefs’ season, which started off hot before hitting a slump.
“When the doubters questioned whether or not you could pull it off again — believe me I know what that feels like,” Biden teased. “But I don’t think anybody’s doubting you now. You fought hard. You kept the faith.”
Biden called Mahomes the “comeback king” as he led the Chiefs to victory in the Super Bowl game against the San Francisco 49ers in overtime. Biden also touched upon the tragedy the team faced following their win with the shooting at their Super Bowl championship parade in Kansas City. Biden praised the team for stepping up to help the victims following the tragedy.
After Biden wrapped up his speech, he turned it over to the Chiefs. Biden teased Kelce to take the podium — which the tight end jokingly did last year.
“My fellow Americans, it’s nice to see all you again,” Kelce addressed the laughing crowd while standing next to Biden. “I won’t lie, President Biden, they told me if I came up here I’d get tased, so I’m going back to my spot.”
While the Chiefs have dominated the NFL the past two seasons, the team has become even more famous in recent months. Kelce, 34, has become a household name outside of sports after he and Taylor Swift began dating in summer 2023. After Swift, also 34, and Kelce went public with their romance, she became a staple in Chiefs Kingdom as she attended countless games to cheer on Kelce, including their electric Super Bowl LVIII victory.
Swift was not in attendance at the White House as she is currently in the middle of the European leg of her Eras Tour. She took the stage in Madrid on Thursday, May 30, and is scheduled to perform in Lyon, France, over the weekend.
Most recently, Butker, 28, found himself in hot water after his controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College in Kansas. In his address, the kicker raised eyebrows after he spoke out about women giving up careers to serve as stay-at-home wives and mothers. While Butker advocated for stereotypical gender roles, he also criticized leaders including Biden and slammed the LGBTQIA+ community and more.
“Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder,” Butker said in his speech. “Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the Sign of the Cross during a pro-abortion rally.”
Many Chiefs players have remained impartial when it came to Butker’s views, noting that he is entitled to his opinions. Many including Mahomes, Kelce and more have shared that Butker is a good teammate to them despite their conflicting personal views.
After Butker’s remarks went viral, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre shared during a May press briefing that an invitation was extended to “the entire team.”
“What I can say is we invite the entire team and we do that always. I don’t have anything beyond that,” she said. “It’s an invitation that goes to the team, a
