Jill Biden Calls Olympics Opening Ceremony, Which Mocked Christianity, ‘Spectacular’

 First Lady Jill Biden praised the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Paris that has faced backlash for mocking Christianity as a “spectacular” display.

Biden, who led the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremony on Friday, made the comments during a brunch celebrating the fact that the 2028 Olympics are going to be held in Los Angeles.

“It was spectacular,” Biden said. “The rain did not dampen our spirits. … Every step of the way, I was thinking to myself, ‘Oh my god, oh my god. How are we going to top this?'”

Biden went on to note how Paris has the Eiffel Tower, but Los Angeles has Hollywood.

“The magic of Hollywood that makes all dreams come true,” she said, adding later, “It’s a city where new generations of dreamers shape our culture.”

This year’s opening ceremony, which featured a number of acts, drew controversy for including a drag show parody of “The Last Supper” with Jesus Christ, his apostles, and Greek god Dionysus.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said in a post to X that the scene was “shocking and insulting to Christian people around the world who watched the opening ceremony.”

C Spire, a tech company based in Mississippi, said that it would be removing ads from the Olympics.

“We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be pulling our advertising from the Olympics,” the firm said on X.

NFL kicker Harrison Butker, who earlier this year suggested President Joe Biden had betrayed his Catholic faith by supporting abortion access, and religious leaders also lashed out.

Amid the outrage, according to ESPN, organizers for this summer’s games apologized to Catholics and other Christian groups who took offense.

“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. [The opening ceremony] tried to celebrate community tolerance,” said Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps.

She added, “We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense, we are really sorry.”

The ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, said, “We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together. We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that.”