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This time the right-wing network harped on the transportation secretary's very public decision to take paternity leave in 2021.
A new Fox News report indicates the network's obsession with the lives of same-sex couples. Despite having its own paternity policy, the network continues to paint Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg's life as a gay married father as problematic.
Under the headline, "Buttigieg avoided calls, public appearances on paternity leave, FOIA documents show," the right-wing network positioned the secretary as somehow having hidden his work attendance.
"Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg avoided some phone calls and requests for public appearances while he was on paternity leave in 2021, according to internal documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act," the outlet wrote.
Buttigieg has been transparent about his belief that paternity leave is just as important as maternity leave and encourages all employers to provide the benefit to their employees.
He and his husband, Chasten, welcomed their twins in August 2021. As a result, Buttigieg took four weeks off from his duties for parental leave.
Fox News itself has a generous paternity leave policy, which raises questions about the outlet's focus on Buttigieg's time away from work after adopting his children.
Several Fox & Friends stars have previously praised the company for offering new parents six weeks of paternity leave.
The company did not respond to The Advocate's request for comment.
Todd Piro took six weeks off to care for his newborn after the birth of his daughter last March and wrote glowingly for the network about his experience upon his return.
Current U.S. policy lets employees who qualify take unpaid leave to care for a newborn loved one or recover from illness without losing their jobs.
In 2021, Tucker Carlson criticized Buttigieg for taking paternity leave amid a pending infrastructure bill and supply chain crisis.
While appearing on Fox News last week, Buttigieg shut down a host Bret Baier's line of questioning that implied the transportation secretary had misused a government jet to take his husband on a presidential delegation.
A Biden administration official told The Advocate that the continued focus on the Buttigieg's lives as a gay couple was "weird."
A spokesperson with the Department of Transportation didn't immediately respond to The Advocate's request for comment.
The secretary's husband, however, derided the GOP-friendly network on social media.
"This morning the twins helped pick ou[t] their sweaters, scooted down the stairs, ran to their chairs, and sat at the table eating scrambled eggs with forks," wrote Chasten Buttigieg on Twitter. "They said 'bye bye dada' on the way out the door. It's been 17 months. You need new material. Go yell at an M&M."
\u201cThis morning the twins helped pick our their sweaters, scooted down the stairs, ran to their chairs, and sat at the table eating scrambled eggs with forks. They said "bye bye dada" on the way out the door. \n\nIt's been 17 months. You need new material. Go yell at an M&M.\u201d— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten Buttigieg) 1673623265
