Pete Buttigieg says he's 'not going to apologize to Tucker Carlson' over his paternity leave

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Sunday he's "not going to apologize" to Tucker Carlson — or anyone — after the Fox News host mocked his recent paternity leave.

Buttigieg announced over the summer that he and his husband Chasten had welcomed twins, and Politico reported this past week that the transportation secretary had been on paternity leave since the middle of August. Carlson on his Fox show mocked Buttigieg over this, saying he was "trying to figure out how to breastfeed — no word on how that went."

In a Sunday interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Buttigieg fired back at the Fox host while arguing for the importance of paid paternity leave.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"As you might imagine, we're bottle feeding, and doing it at all hours of the day and night," Buttigieg said. "And I'm not going to apologize to Tucker Carlson or anyone else for taking care of my premature newborn infant twins."

Buttigieg went on to say that he and his husband were doing "joyful, fulfilling, wonderful work," and "work that every American ought to be able to do when they welcome a new child into their family." Previously, Buttigieg told MSNBC that these attitudes espoused by people like Carlson come from "dark places," but that "this doesn't speak for the country."

When Tapper asked Buttigieg why he didn't officially announce his paternity leave or appoint an acting secretary, Buttigieg said that even while he was on leave, he was still "available 24/7."