Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has apologized for giving a Dorito chip to a social media influencer who fell to her knees after Roman Catholic organizations accused the Democratic politician of insulting her religion, by mocking the sacrament of communion.

“I would never do anything to denigrate anyone’s faith,” Whitmer said in a statement her office provided to Michigan television news station WJBK on Friday.

She explained that the stunt in question – captured on video with popular TikTok content creator Liz Plank – was intended to promote a law signed by President Joe Biden in 2022, known colloquially as the “Chips Act” and 280 billions of dollars for semiconductor research and manufacturing. But it was all “construed as something it was never intended to be, and I apologize for that,” Whitmer said.

In the video, Plank kneels in front of Whitmer, who then puts a Dorito chip in the podcaster and influencer's mouth. The governor rounds out the scene by looking at the camera while wearing a hat and supporting fellow Democrat Kamala Harris and Vice President Tim Walz in the November presidential election.

The Michigan Catholic Conference — which has clashed with Whitmer over her support of abortion rights — joined other church groups in condemning the governor's video with Plank.

In a statement Friday, conference CEO Paul Long accused Whitmer and Plank of “purposefully mimicking the postures and gestures of Catholics when receiving the Eucharist.”

Long's statement alluded to how Catholics believe that the wafers used for the sacrament of Communion literally transform into the body of the crucified Jesus Christ, adding, “It's not just tasteless or 'weird'; It is an all-too-familiar example of an elected official mocking religious figures and their practices.”

Whitmer then apologized and said she took the time to speak with the Michigan Catholic Conference.

People who WJBK described as “Democratic sources with knowledge of Whitmer's participation in the video” also made a point of telling the station that the video was part of a viral social media challenge to ask friends difficult to feed in front of the camera.

In his statement, Long added: “While dialogue with the governor's office on this issue is appreciated, whether or not the insult to Catholics and the Eucharist was intended, it has had an offensive effect.”

Whitmer has been governor of Michigan since 2019. She was previously considered a possible candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination after Biden ruled out re-election and endorsed Harris as his successor.

But Whitmer ultimately excluded herself, has been a prominent supporter of Harris and recently made headlines when she called Donald Trump “just crazy” after the Republican nominee bragged that women would no longer consider abortion if voters gave him him there would be a second presidency on November 5th.

Michigan is among a few key swing states expected to decide Harris' race against Trump. Biden won the state by just 154,000 votes in 2020 after supporting Trump in his Electoral College victory four years earlier.