Following the adoption of his children, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was criticized for taking a paternity leave by Fox News' Tucker Carlson. Now, Buttigieg is firing back at Carlson over the comments.
Carlson said, "Pete Buttigieg has been on leave from his job since August after adopting a child. Paternity leave, they call it, trying to figure out how to breastfeed. No word on how that went."
In an interview with CNN on Sunday, Buttigieg fired back at the clip of Carlson mocking him for taking the leave.
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"As you might imagine, we're bottle feeding and doing it at all hours of the day and night," Buttigieg said to CNN. "I'm not going to apologize to Tucker Carlson or anyone else for taking care of my premature newborn infant twins. The work that we are doing is joyful, fulfilling, wonderful work. It's important work."
Buttigieg welcomed twins Penelope Rose and Joseph August Buttigieg with his husband Chasten in August.
On social media, some fired back at Carlson on behalf of Buttigieg, asking who is more of a man, pointing out Buttigieg's service record and Carlson's flop on "Dancing with the Stars."
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In the interview, Buttigieg called attention to the debates around paternity leave in congress. He shared that every American should be able to welcome their children into the world and take time to be with them. He also pointed out that America is behind the rest of the world regarding paternity leave.
"We're pretty much the only country left that doesn't have some kind of national policy for paid [family] leave," Buttigieg said. "It is long past time to make it possible for every American mother and father to take care of their children when a new child arrives."
