Former Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday night doubled down on a widely criticized joke he told about Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at the White Gridiron dinner over the weekend.
“The Gridiron dinner is a roast. I’ve had a lot of jokes directed at me, and I’ve directed a lot of jokes at Republicans and Democrats,” Pence told reporters at a Cheshire County GOP event in New Hampshire, according to the Associated Press.
“All I can say is that Pete Buttigieg not only can’t do his job, he can’t take a joke,” Pence added.
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Pence’s original comments mocked Buttigieg for taking parental leave amid flights, travel and supply chain disruptions in 2021 after the secretary and his wife Chasten adopted twins.
“Pete is the only person in human history to have a child and everyone else has postpartum depression,” Pence said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Pence’s comments “offensive and inappropriate,” saying “we must apologize to women and LGBTQ people, who have the right to be treated with dignity and respect.”
Chasten Buttigieg, meanwhile, hit back with a photo of his wife in the hospital as their children were treated for a respiratory virus.
“If your grandchild was born prematurely and put on a ventilator at two months old – little fingers wrapped around your hand while a monitor beeps in the background – where would you be?” he asked the former veep.
On “The View” Tuesday, Chasten further explained: “I said that because we all have an obligation to hold people accountable when they say something wrong, especially if it’s misogynistic, especially if it’s homophobic, and I don’t take it when it goes to my family, and I don’t think about anyone else , especially if you are carrying a medically fragile little one.
“He said he’s a family-values Republican. So I don’t think he’s doing what he preaches here,” added Chasten Buttigieg of Pence.