Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg revealed his two children on Saturday with his husband, though congratulatory messages were accompanied by many questioning the photo-op moment.
Buttigieg, once widely known as ‘Mayor Pete’ for his time as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, posted an image of himself and his husband, Chasten, sitting in a hospital bed and holding their two children, Penelope and Joseph.
The former mayor had announced last month that he and his husband had welcomed two children, born through surrogacy.
The Democrat was inundated with messages of congratulations from supporters who marveled over the Labor Day weekend photo.
Others were quicker to question the moment and call it out as a set-up photo-op moment meant to give some positive press to the Democrat and the administration, still facing criticism over the chaotic Afghanistan exit. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and other Democrats even shared the Buttigieg photo as needed “good news.”
“Why are they in a hospital bed?” Spectator editor Chadwick Moore tweeted in response to the photo, a question that has been echoed by numerous other users.
Others also questioned how the photo-op moment would happen in a hospital during a pandemic as Covid-19 cases are on the rise, which numerous health officials have warned will continue to happen in the coming months due to the Delta variant and lagging vaccination rates.
“Hospitals are short on beds because of COVID, and Pete Buttigieg is taking a photo op in a hospital bed,” conservative author Brigitte Gabriel tweeted.
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