Bill Kristol: Buttigieg entitled to call Tucker Carlson a ‘repulsive bigot’

Bill Kristol, editor of the anti-Trump conservative site The Bulwark, said on Sunday that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was entitled to call Fox News host Tucker Carlson a “repulsive bigot” for his remarks about Buttigieg taking paternity leave. 

Carlson had mocked the secretary for taking paternity leave and sniped that the secretary was “trying to figure out how to breastfeed.”

“I’m not going to apologize to Tucker Carlson or anyone else for taking care of my premature newborn infant twins,” Buttigieg said in responding to Carlson’s comments during an appearance Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“The work that we are doing is joyful, fulfilling, wonderful work,” Buttiegieg said.

Kristol shared video of Buttigieg’s response and tweeted, “I understand that @PeteButtigieg is a) a polite person, and b) a Cabinet secretary, who should stay on the high road. But I will note that Pete would have been perfectly entitled to say that @TuckerCarlson is a repulsive bigot, and that his response to Carlson is, ‘F___ off.'”

I understand that @PeteButtigieg is a) a polite person, and b) a Cabinet secretary, who should stay on the high road. But I will note that Pete would have been perfectly entitled to say that @TuckerCarlson is a repulsive bigot, and that his response to Carlson is, “F___ off.” https://t.co/2PdcvdHKs8

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 17, 2021

Buttigieg previously responded to Carlson’s remarks last week and has so far maintained a more conciliatory tone than what Kristol has suggested.

“Well, look, in his case, I guess he just doesn’t understand the concept of bottle-feeding, let alone the concept of paternity leave,” Buttigieg said while appearing on MSNBC. “But what is really strange is that, you know, this is from a side of the aisle that used to claim the mantle of being pro-family. What we have right now is an administration that’s actually pro-family.”

Despite being a conservative who served under a Republican administration, Kristol has become an ardent critic of former President Trump and his supporters. Last year, Kristol said that “we are all Democrats” until Trump is out office.

In August, Kristol endorsed Democratic Virginia gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe, having criticized Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin’s embrace of Trump.