Here NBC News:
WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg defended paid family leave Sunday after Fox News host Tucker Carlson mocked him for taking paternity leave to care for his newborn twins.
“When somebody welcomes a new child into their family and goes on leave to take care of that child, that’s not a vacation. It’s work. It’s joyful, wonderful, fulfilling work, but it is work,” Buttigieg said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Politico reported last week that Buttigieg had been on paid leave since mid-August to spend time with his husband, Chasten, and their twin babies, Penelope and Joseph.
Read the rest here.
Should Buttigieg have taken time off? It’s not an easy question to answer. I fully support family leave, but Buttigieg holds a cabinet position in the executive branch of the United States government. If the President, Vice-President, Secretary of State or Secretary Defense had a child would it be okay for them to take family leave? If not, how high on the leadership scale does not one have to ascend before family leave is not appropriate?
I’m not trying to condemn or defend Buttigieg. I’m just trying to raise the right questions.
