Chasten Buttigieg calls Mike Pence a ‘snowflake’ after homophobic paternity leave remark

Former vice president mocked Mr Buttigieg at event for taking parental leave after the birth of his adopted twins

Pete Buttigieg’s husband has branded Mike Pence a “snowflake” for refusing to apologize for his “maternity leave” joke that the White House called homophobic.

The former vice president mocked Mr Buttigieg for taking parental leave after the birth of his adopted twins, one of whom was treated in hospital for health issues in 2021.

Mr Pence said Mr Buttigieg, who is the first openly gay Cabinet secretary, took “maternity leave” while airline problems happened at the same time.

Chasten Buttigieg (ABC News)

Chasten Buttigieg, the husband of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, said during an appearance on ABC’s The View that the couple had not heard from Mr Pence, and that he did not expect to.

“No, and I think it’s not ‘woke,’ you know, to say that something is homophobic or misogynistic. Doesn’t make you woke. It doesn’t make you a snowflake to tell someone they made a mistake,” he said.

“I know we all struggle to find a balance between work and family life. I’ve never seen someone work harder than my husband to find that balance, but I think Republican or Democrat, we can all agree when your child – our prematurely born child – is barely five pounds, when your kid is connected to a ventilator, you don’t want to be anywhere but by their bedside.”

Mr Pence made his controversial remark during a white-tie dinner at the Gridiron Club in Washington DC in front of politicians and journalists.

.@Chasten Buttigieg responds to what the White House called a "homophobic joke" made by former Vice Pres. Pence aimed at his husband @SecretaryPete for taking paternity leave: "It flies in the face of what he says he is — he says he's a 'family values' Republican." pic.twitter.com/SDYTPen905

— The View (@TheView) March 16, 2023

“He took two months ‘maternity’ leave whereupon thousands of travellers were stranded in airports, the air traffic system shut down, and airplanes nearly collided on our runways,” he joked.

“Pete is the only person in human history to have a child and everyone else gets postpartum depression.”

One of the couple’s twins had to be hospitalised and put on a ventilator after the babies, who are now 18 months old, were born prematurely and developed Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection.

Earlier this week, Chasten Buttigieg tweeted a picture of his husband in a hospital room with their child that was aimed at Mr Pence.

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? pic.twitter.com/pCWvl8pb5N

— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten) March 13, 2023

“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 said.

After Mr Pence’s remarks, Pete Buttigieg said he was baffled as the former vice president had asked him about the children the last time saw each other.

“I guess, you know, at a political event in white tie, it’s a little different,” Pete Buttigieg told ABC News on Monday.