mike pence joke pete buttigieg

The White House rebuked the Republican former vice-president Mike Pence on Monday, for making jokes about US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, maternity leave and postpartum depression that it said were homophobic and offensive to women.

He and his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, have twins. In October 2021, as the US faced supply chain problems and familiar issues with rail and air delays and safety, the two babies were hospitalised.

He also responded to rightwing criticism and homophobic remarks from the Fox News host Tucker Carlson, calling criticism of his parenting and use of parental leave “strange”, from “a side of the aisle that used to claim the mantle of being pro-family”.

Mike Pence, Pete Buttigieg, And The Lie Of The “moderate” Gop

Pence, an evangelical Christian who was a congressman and governor of Indiana before becoming Donald Trump’s vice-president, is now considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination.

He spoke on Saturday at the Gridiron dinner, a bipartisan Washington event featuring light-hearted speeches. Phil Murphy, the governor of New Jersey, spoke for Democrats and the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, spoke for the Biden administration.

Pence made headlines for saying Donald Trump “endangered my family” on January 6 and rejecting attempts by rightwingers including Carlson to downplay the attack on Congress.

Chasten Buttigieg Calls Out Mike Pence On Pete Buttigieg, Parental Leave Comments

Saying the secretary had taken “maternity leave” from his job, Pence added: “Thousands of travelers were stranded in airports, the air traffic system shut down and airplanes nearly collided on our runways.

On Monday, Jean-Pierre said: “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.

“The hypocrisy is especially rich considering their own secretary of state, Antony Blinken, joked that he yearned for ‘the old days’ when ‘Jews did all the work’, ” Marc Short tweeted, referring to another remark at the dinner.

Mike Pence Makes Homophobic Digs At Pete Buttigieg At Gridiron Dinner

Chasten Buttigieg posted to Twitter a picture of his husband in hospital, holding one of the twins, and said he had “an honest question” for Pence.

“If your grandchild was born prematurely and placed on a ventilator at two months old – their tiny fingers wrapped around yours as the monitors beep in the background – where would you be?”

Before running for president and then joining Biden’s cabinet, Buttigieg was for eight years mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Pence was governor for four of those years and the two men worked well together.

White House Demands Pence Apologize For 'homophobic Joke' Aimed At Buttigieg

But Pence also attracted widespread criticism for his views on LGBTQ+ rights. On the campaign trail in 2019, Buttigieg took aim at the older man.

“If me being gay was a choice, it was a choice that was made far, far above my pay grade, ” Buttigieg said. “And that’s the thing I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand: that if you’ve got a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.”Former Vice President Mike Pence greets people while signing copies of his book "So Help Me God" before the start of a GOP fundraising dinner, March 16, 2023, in Keene, N.H.

Former Vice President Mike Pence doubled down Thursday on his controversial remarks aimed at Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's decision to take parental leave.

Mike Pence's Homophobic And Misogynistic Joke About Pete Buttigieg Draws Criticism

The former vice president, thought to be a contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, refused to apologize after he mocked Buttigieg's "maternity leave" at the annual Gridiron Dinner in Washington for journalists and politicians last Saturday.

"The Gridiron Dinner is a roast, " he told WMUR's Arielle Mitropoulos at a GOP dinner in New Hampshire when asked for his response to the criticism. "I had a lot of jokes directed to me, and I directed a lot of jokes to Republicans and Democrats. The only thing I can figure is Pete Buttigieg not only can't do his job, but he can't take a joke."

On Monday, the White House publicly asked Pence to apologize, calling the joke "offensive and inappropriate, all the more so because he treated women suffering from postpartum depression as a punchline." Buttigieg's husband, Chasten, then went on ABC's "The View" on Thursday to denounce the "attempted joke."

Can't Take A Joke': Mike Pence Doubles Down On His Homophobic Attack Against Pete Buttigieg (video)

Marc Short, Pence's former chief of staff and co-chair of his political advocacy group, called the White House reaction to Pence's set "faux outrage."

"The White House would be wise to focus less on placating the woke police and focus more on bank failures, planes nearly colliding in mid-air, train derailments, and the continued supply chain crisis, " Short said in a statement earlier this week.

ABC News' Gio Benitez asked the transportation secretary himself on Monday whether he thought Pence owed him an apology, to which he responded, "I'll let others speak to that."

Mike Pence Blasted For Homophobia After Pete Buttigieg Joke

"It's a strange thing to me because the last time I saw him, he asked me about my kids like a normal person would. I guess, you know, at a political event in white tie, it's a little different, " Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg's twins, now 18 months old, were born prematurely and developed Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV). One was hospitalized and put on a ventilator -- a "terrifying" experience that the couple documented on Medium -- and a point Chasten Buttigieg raised in a tweet this week to Pence.

"I spoke up because 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 it's towards my family, and I don't think anyone else would, especially when you bring a very small, medically-fragile child into it, " he told co-hosts of "The View."

Wh Demands Pence Apologize For 'homophobic Joke' About Pete Buttigieg

"The thing about what he said is it flies in the face of what he says he is. He says he's a family values Republican. So I don't think he's practicing what he preaches here, " he said.

"Someone wrote this, and he checked it and purposely said maternity leave rather than paternity leave -- but also, it's a bigger conversation about the work that women do in families -- taking a swipe at all women and all families and expecting that women would stay home and raise children is a misogynistic view, especially from a man who said just last year that we should be supporting more people that adopt, " he added.

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