Tucker Carlson mocks Pete Buttigieg for taking paternity leave and says he was ‘learning to breastfeed’

Tucker Carlson mocked Pete Buttigieg for taking paternity leave after he and his husband Chasten welcomed newborn twins in August.

During Thursday’s monologue on his show, the Fox News’ presenter took a homophobic jab at the transport secretary by saying he was taking the time to try and “figure out how to breastfeed.”

“Pete Buttigieg has been on leave from his job since August after adopting a child – paternity leave, they call it – trying to figure out how to breastfeed. No word on how that went”, Carlson said.

As Buttigieg is gay, some viewers interpreted that as a homophobic jibe.

The US Department of Transportation confirmed to Politico that Buttigieg had taken paternity leave and “for the first four weeks, he was mostly offline except for major agency decisions and matters that could not be delegated.”

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The Fox News host, notorious for his bigoted rants and reinforcing toxic masculinity, was slammed by social media users.

One said, “Can stupid face Tucker Carlson be any more homophobic? What an insecure, disgusting, little shell of man. He will never, ever be a quarter of the man Buttigieg is.”

Another Twitter user joked, “Tucker Carlson was picked last for every game of kickball and now we all have to pay the price for it.”

One Twitter user highlighted the irony of Carlon’s colleague taking up Fox News’ paternity leave offer.

They said: “Tucker Carlson mocked Pete Buttigieg for taking paternity leave. Did he also mock his Fox News colleague Todd Piro who took paternity leave in April?”

Fellow Fox News presenter, Todd Piro, took six weeks out to spend time with his baby daughter.

“I cannot thank Fox enough for providing all fathers who work here with such a generous paternity leave,” Piro said earlier in the year.

“This experience has changed me in a profound way and in ways I won’t fully comprehend until my daughter is older.

“But for now – that smile coming from the crib each morning, immediately followed by morning snuggles – is what I will cherish the most. There is nothing better.”