Representative Lauren Boebert has joined the choir of conservatives criticizing Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for taking two months of parental leave after the arrival of his and his husband Chasten’s twins. And like others before her, she did so in a completely nonsensical, homophobic manner.
“Mayor Pete was on a two-month maternity–paternity–whatever the heck you wanna call it–leave. The guy was gone, OK? The guy was not working. Because why? He was trying to figure out how to chest feed,” Boebert sneered on her late-night-style YouTube show, Bullet Points With Lauren Boebert, a thing that apparently exists.
Boebert then went on to make a bizarre claim. “I delivered one of my children in the front seat of my truck. Because as a mom of four, we got things to do,” Boebert says. “Ain’t nobody got time for two and a half months of maternity leave. We have a world to save here.”
Boebert attacked Pete Buttigieg today for taking paternity leave: “I delivered one of my children in the front seat of my truck. Because, as a mom of 4, we got things to do. Ain’t nobody got time for two and a half months of maternity leave. We have a world to save.” pic.twitter.com/aIBBhhQuAl
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) November 1, 2021
First of all, we’re going to need a citation for Boebert’s claim that she’s helping “save the world” in any way.
Second, a search for more information on her story about giving birth in a truck yielded exactly zero results. I’m not saying it didn’t happen (although Boebert has been known to exaggerate elements of her desired down-home, rough & tumble image), but if it did, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess it wasn’t a deliberate decision for time-saving purposes.
Also, the logic of refusing parental leave because “as a mom of four, we got things to do” is absurd. If she’s highlighting her role as a parent, then doesn’t that imply those “things to do” include … caring for her children? Which is the point of parental leave? Paid leave strengthens relationships between parents and their children, decreases the rate of divorce, and it’s also good for the economy.
As many of us are once again wondering why the U.S. is still one of the only countries not to offer this basic essential support to parents, Boebert seems to be suggesting the best way to have and care for children is to just pop one out at a red light in between errands, fully solidifying her place as a person literally no one should listen to about anything, ever.
(via Ron Filipkowski on Twitter, image: screencap)
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