Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include a statement from Governor Gretchen Whitmer. 

Catholics were incensed this week to see a new viral video featuring Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer offering podcaster Liz Plank a Dorito on her tongue. Plank is seen kneeling in front of Whitmer with her tongue out as a nacho-cheese chip is placed on top. After closing her mouth, the YouTube star seems to beam piously as the camera pans to Whitmer in a deadpan wearing a camouflage Harris/Walz baseball cap.  

At first glance, the video posted Oct. 10 appears sacrilegious. In what other setting does anyone kneel in front of someone to receive something on one’s tongue? None. There is no comparison.    

The caption that goes along with the shocking video talks about the CHIPS and Science Act from 2022, signed by President Joe Biden, which provides money to the domestic semiconductor industry: 

If he won’t, Gretchen Whitmer will. 

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. 

However, online chatter attempts to correlate the video with a viral trend on social media where users feed a bite of food to someone and then slowly look blankly into the camera. Typically this happens at a table with a spoon,  not kneeling in an act of reverence. Usually  these videos show  a spouse sitting across the table or a baby in a high chair.  

Some Catholics have been defending the clip in this way, but the majority are not. Bill Donohue of the Catholic League was one of the first to condemn the video, going so far as to say the governor has committed “political suicide.”  

“What Whitmer did was to deride Holy Communion,” Donohue states flatly. “There is no wiggle room for her to deny the obvious.” 

Ashley McGuire of The Catholic Association agrees with Donohue’s assessment, telling the Register:  

“Gretchen Whitmer's mockery of Catholics is unsurprising in that she represents a political party that has shown nothing but animosity towards our faith. At the top of the Democratic ticket, after all, is Kamala Harris, who is openly bigoted toward Catholics.”  

“Anti-Catholic bigotry as displayed by open mockery is an insidious trend by the cultural elites, whether it's the Olympic committee mocking the Last Supper, the L.A. Dodgers mocking Catholic nuns, or the Democratic governor of Michigan mocking Communion. Their mockery is just thinly veiled bigotry, and there is nothing funny about hate,” McGuire added. 

Catholic author Tim Carney doesn’t think there is anything but mockery to be found in the clip, sharing on his X social-media account: “I’m ready to believe this is intentional mockery of the Blessed Sacrament because Whitmer’s AG is unabashed in her disdain for the Catholic Church.” 

Raymond Arroyo of EWTN’s The World Over was also quick to point out the abhorrent video clip on social media, writing: “Whatever Gov. Whitmer imagined she was doing here was wrong on nearly every level. Lampooning sacraments is not likely to win over Catholic voters … [o]r any other voting block.” 

The Michigan Catholic Conference reacted to the video in a statement saying: 

“The skit goes further than the viral online trend that inspired it, specifically imitating the posture and gestures of Catholics receiving the Holy Eucharist, in which we believe that Jesus Christ is truly present,” said Michigan Catholic Conference's president and CEO Paul A. Long.

“It is not just distasteful or ‘strange;’ it is an all-too-familiar example of an elected official mocking religious persons and their practices. While dialogue on this issue with the governor’s office is appreciated, whether or not insulting Catholics and the Eucharist was the intent, it has had an offensive impact."

Whitmer released a statement in response to the backlash over the video stating: 

“Over 25 years in public service, I would never do something to denigrate someone’s faith. I’ve used my platform to stand up for people’s right to hold and practice their personal religious beliefs. My team has spoken to the Michigan Catholic Conference. What was supposed to be a video about the importance of the CHIPS Act to Michigan jobs, has been construed as something it was never intended to be, and I apologize for that.”

The governor and Plank were together filming an episode of Plank’s YouTube series, Chip Chat.  

In the opening sequence of the episode, entitled, “Gretchen Whitmer Wants To Meet Her Kidnappers,” the former MSNBC columnist asks Whitmer about her children:

“Okay, and you have two daughters. When they come back and they leave their cups lying around, do you ever think about getting a post-birth abortion?”  

Whitmer leans in, laughing, before thanking her for the question. “Thank you for raising that because there’s no such thing.”