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Tucker’s ‘Breastfeeding’ Joke About Gay Biden Official Has Everyone Mad for Different Reasons

Commentators across the political spectrum have found their own reasons to oppose Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s one-liner about Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg taking paternity leave.

SO WHAT

To be determined: Whether Tucker’s is right that a political revolution is about to make these kinds of scandals irrelevant.

WHAT HAPPENED

During his opening monologue on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Thursday, Carlson quipped that Buttigieg has been “trying to figure out how to breastfeed” while on paternity leave to spend time with his husband and their newborn adopted twins.

Carlson’s larger point was that Buttigieg’s unannounced two-month absence amid national transportation-related economic problems illustrated the Biden administration’s failure to take seriously the needs of everyday Americans.

  • “These are measurable declines in your family’s standard of living, and they have consequences,” Carlson said. “If economic decline continues, and it seems likely to continue, you will see a profound political reset in this country.”
  • When America becomes poorer, Carlson predicted, the public will stop tolerating Democrats’ “endless woke garbage” and start demanding competent “America First” governance.

THE REACTION

Journalists and pundits from across the political establishment largely ignored Carlson’s economic critique and focused on his joke about Buttigieg.

On the left: Progressives on Twitter Thursday accused Carlson of homophobia, with many calling for him to be “canceled.”

Some added that Carlson was sexist for suggesting parenting an infant is woman’s work.

Others condemned Politico in similar terms because the news site reported Thursday — following Republican backlash over Buttigieg’s absence — the reason the transportation secretary “has been MIA.”

On the right: Fox News meteorologist Janice Deen was among a number of prominent conservatives who also came to the defense of paternity leave.

Some populist sympathizers, like libertarian journalist Brad Polumbo, said Carlson’s belittling of the policy contradicted his own pro-family principles.

MEANWHILE

Polumbo, who is gay, and evangelical Christian radio host Erick Erickson led a small contingent of commentators on the right in rejecting “homophobia” as a blanket defense of Buttigieg’s job performance.

Erickson, echoing Carlson, suggested woke concerns about “punching down” were trumped by the duty of elected officials to serve the American people.

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