“Spare America the Faux Outrage”: Pence’s Team Fires Back at White House Demanding Apology
- March 14, 2023
Former Vice President Mike Pence and the Biden White House are engaging in a war of words after Pence made a joke about Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Pence initiated the sequence of events with his comments at the annual Gridiron Club dinner in Washington for journalists and politicians. He pointed out the incongruity of Buttigieg taking leave of his post after the birth of his adopted twins while Americans were struggling with air travel.
“He took two months ‘maternity’ leave whereupon thousands of travelers were stranded in airports, the air traffic system shut down, and airplanes nearly collided on our runways. Pete is the only person in human history to have a child and everyone else gets postpartum depression,” Pence quipped about Buttigieg, who is gay.
Buttigieg took roughly two months of paternity leave between August to October 2021, during which time a supply chain crisis hit the American economy. Among other concerns about Buttigieg’s unavailability, Protect the Public’s Trust asked for and received documents showing Buttigieg declined a request for a call with Iowa GOP Senator Chuck Grassley to discuss an application for funds for a bridge in Iowa.