United
States secretary of transportation Pete Buttigieg on Friday slammed
Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson‘s comments ridiculing Buttigieg’s
paternity leave to care for his twin babies.

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“Look,
in his case, I guess he just doesn’t understand the concept of bottle feeding,
let alone the concept of paternity leave. But what’s really strange is that you know, this is from a side of the aisle that used to claim the mantle of
being pro-family,” Buttigieg stated on MSNBC.

Caring
for young children is “joyful” and “wonderful work,” he continued.

“But
it’s definitely work,” Buttigieg remarked.

The
secretary has been on paid vacation since mid-August, according to POLITICO’s
West Wing Playbook, to spend time with his husband, Chasten, and their twin
kids, Penelope and Joseph.

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“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,” Carlson told
on Thursday.

His remarks sparked outrage on social
media, with many accusing Fox News presenter Chris Wallace of homophobia. On
Friday, MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace questioned Buttigieg on Carlson’s remarks,
calling the attack “misogynistic” and “homophobic.”

“Look, this attack is coming from a guy
who has yet to explain his apparent approval for the assassination of Harvey
Milk, so obviously we know that there’s some dark places where some of these
attitudes come from,” he said.

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“But I also note that that doesn’t speak for the
country. I don’t think that even speaks for most people on the other side of
the aisle from the party that I belong to. This is largely a consensus issue,
not just a support for families like mine to have a right to marry and right to
be treated equally but also that families in general, moms and dads, ought to
be able to support their children, including with paid family leave.”