‘I Just Don’t Take That!’ Chasten Buttigieg Blasts Ex-VP Pence For ‘Homophobic’ Joke ‘Attacking Families’
Chasten Buttigieg blasted ex-Vice President Mike Pence for a joke about Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg’s family leave that he called “homophobic” and an “attack on families.”
Mediaite sources and other media outlets have reported that Pence made the following remarks at the Gridiron Club Dinner, an annual white-tie political dinner that’s never televised but is attended by hundreds of political and media figures and journalists:
“When Pete’s two children were born, he took two months’ maternity leave whereupon thousands of travelers were stranded in airports, the air traffic system shut down, and airplanes nearly collided on our runways.”
“Pete is the only person in human history to have a child and everyone else gets postpartum depression.”
The remarks drew a sharp reaction from the White House in the form of a statement condemning the remarks from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre:
The former vice president’s homophobic joke about Secretary Buttigieg was offensive and inappropriate, all the more so because he treated women suffering from postpartum depression as a punchline. He should apologize to women and LGBTQ people, who are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect.
On Monday, Sec. Buttigieg took the high road when asked about the remarks and whether he’s owed an apology:
GIO BENITEZ: Does Mike Pence owe you an apology?
SEC. PETE BUTTIGIEG: You know, I’ll let others speak to that. You know, it’s a strange thing to me, because last time I saw him, he asked me about my kids like a normal person would. And I guess, you know, at a political event in white tie, it’s a little different. But again, there’s not a lot of time for me to focus on the Washington game because we have real work to do here.
Chasten was a guest on Thursday’s edition of ABC’s The View, where the hosts asked him to expand on the comments he made on Twitter when the comments were first reported:
CHASTEN BUTTIGIEG: I spoke up for two reasons. One, I’m always going to stick up for my family, especially my kids. Yeah. And yeah, I don’t know if you had that picture there of Gus in the hospital, but yeah, I know we all struggle to find a balance between work and family life, and I’ve never seen someone work harder than my husband to find that balance. But I think Republican or Democrat, we can all agree that when your child are are prematurely born, child barely 5 lb., when your kid is connected to a ventilator, you don’t want to be anywhere but at their bedside.
SUNNY HOSTIN: Where are you going to be?
CHASTEN BUTTIGIEG: Yeah. So in watching us in the hospital, for anyone who has ever experienced having a child in the ICU…
SUNNY HOSTIN: I had a child in the NICU. It’s very difficult.
CHASTEN BUTTIGIEG: When their tiny little hand is gripping around your finger. You know what I would watch Pete have to peel Gus’s fingers back and duck into the little bathroom in his room so he could do a zoom with a virtual background so nobody would see that he’s in the hospital. You know, and the other reason I spoke up is because, like I mentioned, we all have an obligation to hold people accountable for when they say something wrong, especially when it’s misogynistic, especially when it’s homophobic. And I just don’t take that when when it’s directed at my family. And I don’t think anybody else would, especially when you bring a very small, medically fragile child into it.
Buttigieig also slammed Pence for failing to “practice what he preaches,” and called the remarks an “attack on all families” who deserve support under these circumstances.
Watch above via ABC’s The View.
