Chip video touches the nerves of Catholics | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

The eight-second video begins with author and influencer Liz Plank looking up as a disembodied hand places a Doritos chip on her outstretched tongue, causing her eyes to roll back in obvious joy. The shot then pans to the left to show Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) holding a bag of chips, wearing a Harris Walz camouflage presidential campaign cap and staring blankly into the camera.

What Whitmer said was supposed to be a riff on a social media trend has turned into a headache. Whitmer apologized for the video after a Catholic organization accused her of mocking the sacred rite of communion.

On Oct. 11, the Michigan Catholic Conference, the church’s lobbying organization in the state, released a statement “expressing its deep disappointment and offense at the actions in the video.”

“It’s not just tasteless or ‘weird’; “It is an all-too-familiar example of an elected official mocking religious figures and their practices,” wrote conference president and CEO Paul Long.

In a written statement, Whitmer said she did not mean to reference communion in the video, but apologized anyway.

“In my 25 years of public service, I would never do anything that denigrates the faith of others,” she said. “I have used my platform to advocate for people’s right to hold and practice their personal religious beliefs.”

Whitmer said the video was intended to address the importance of the Chips and Science Act, which took effect in 2022 and provides $52 billion to companies building computer chip factories and research facilities in the United States. The caption for the video, edited Friday, reads: “Not only are chips delicious, the CHIPS Act is a game changer for U.S. technology and manufacturing by boosting domestic production of semiconductors to reduce dependency of foreign suppliers!”, Donald Trump would say that is at risk.

“What was supposed to be a video about the importance of the CHIPS Act for jobs in Michigan was interpreted as something it was never intended to be, and for that I apologize,” Whitmer said in her statement.

Regardless of Whitmer’s intent, the video “had an offensive effect,” Long said.

The video taps into a social media trend in which someone, out of view, suggestively feeds the subject in front of the camera, only to pan the shot, revealing not a romantic interest but a friend or older relative, who often looks disgusted. The videos are often based on Nelly’s 2002 song “Dilemma.” Late night host Stephen Colbert and actor Jeremy Allen White were at the height of the trend in June, releasing their pizza version.

“That’s not an excuse,” Long said.

“The skit goes beyond the viral online trend that inspired it, specifically imitating the posture and gestures of Catholics when receiving the Holy Eucharist, in which we believe that Jesus Christ is truly present,” Long said.

Stacey LaRouche, a Whitmer spokeswoman, said Plank was not kneeling in the video but was sitting on a couch.

In a Substack post titled “In Defense of My Demon Accusations” on Saturday, Plank said she decided to promote her new show “Chip Chat” and her Whitmer interview with the “Feeding a Friend” challenge “because “It felt appropriate” provided we ate together.”

“It’s an undisputed trend on social media that has been used by some of the biggest names and celebrities to build engagement and promote things like ‘Chip Chat,'” she said in a statement to The Post.

But, as she added in her Substack post, critics turned something lighthearted into “an elaborate and completely bizarre narrative,” and within minutes she became the target of a “right-wing conspiracy accusing me of performing satanic rituals with Doritos.” .

The same day she released the promotional video, Plank posted a 9½-minute video on YouTube in which she interviews Whitmer for her “Chip Chat” series. During the conversation, Whitmer talks about her stance on abortion, reaching out to male voters, the prospect of meeting one of her potential captors and, yes, her favorite chips: Better Made, which are made in Detroit.

The Michigan Catholic Conference has criticized Whitmer’s policies in the past, particularly on abortion, education funding and transgender issues.

Whitmer was elected governor of Michigan in 2018 and shot into the national spotlight four years later with a double-digit re-election victory while ushering in Democratic control of both chambers of the state legislature for the first time in 40 years. Her name was floated as a replacement for President Joe Biden on the Democratic presidential ticket after his disastrous performance in the June debate, and again as a candidate for Vice President Kamala Harris when she became the presumptive nominee.