Pete Buttigieg’s Husband Just Destroyed Mike Pence's Homophobic Joke

In a show of displeasure towards a remark made by former Vice President Mike Pence, the spouse of Pete Buttigieg, the openly gay Transportation Secretary, shared a photograph of their hospitalized infant. This response by Chasten was prompted by a comment made by Mr. Pence which the White House has deemed to be "homophobic".

The former Vice President's jest involved referencing Mr. Buttigieg's paternity leave during a period of airline turbulence in 2021 as "maternity leave". As a result, the White House has demanded an apology from Mr. Pence.

“Pete is the only person in human history to have a child and everyone else gets postpartum depression,” Pence said at the annual Gridiron Club dinner in Washington D.C. this last Saturday.

For the uninformed, Pete Buttigieg, the Secretary of Transportation, and his spouse, Chasten, became adoptive parents of twins who were born prematurely and faced health complications that necessitated several weeks of medical attention in a hospital in 2021.

Today, via a tweet, Chasten decided to fight back:

Chasten Buttigieg @Chasten

An honest question for you, @Mike_Pence, after your attempted joke this weekend. 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?

In a followup tweet, shortly thereafter, Chasten posted a blog from his his husband about their children and the two of them becoming parents for the first time:

Chasten Buttigieg @Chasten

I'll leave this here for you should you want to know more about the kids you are so eager to use as a punchline.

buttigieg.medium.comOne year in, parenting has taught us about vulnerability and gratitudeNote: This piece is in my voice, but Chasten and I worked on this together and I’m thankful for his help.

The White House was quick to punch back at Pence, as well, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stating the following:

“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."