Pete Buttigieg reveals his newborn son spent Halloween in the hospital

On Instagram yesterday, Pete Buttigieg‘s husband, Chasten, shared that the family spent Halloween in the hospital with one of their infants.

The Transportation Secretary and his husband welcomed Joseph August and Penelope Rose in August. Their son, whom they call “Gus,” is in the hospital—but he still donned the most perfect Halloween costume, despite his surroundings.

“Happy Halloween from these #twinfrastructure safety advocates! ?? ??,” Chasten captioned the photo of his husband holding Penelope and the pair posing with little Gus.

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A post shared by Chasten Glezman Buttigieg (@chasten.buttigieg)

Though Chasten didn’t reveal the reason behind Gus’s hospital visit, he did share that things were going well for the little guy so far.

“As you can see, we’re spending this Halloween in the hospital,” he wrote. “Gus has been having a rough go of it but we’re headed in the right direction.”

After the couple announced the birth of their babies, Buttigieg publicly stated he would be taking paternity leave to help care for them. It didn’t take long before conservative pundits and others criticized him for his decision to take time away from his job to care for his newborn babies—simply because he’s a man.

On a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan said it was “weird” that parents would need to take paternity and maternity leave simultaneously because leave should be reserved for “the person who gave birth.”

Fox News host Tucker Carlson offered a cruel jab to the new dad on his show: “Paternity leave, they call it, trying to figure out how to breastfeed, no word on how that went.”

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A post shared by Pete Buttigieg (@pete.buttigieg)

New parents should never be judged or criticized for taking time off to care for their families and partners. Many new parents aren’t fortunate enough to be afford to do that, and when parents can’t stay home with their newborns, everyone suffers.

It’s awesome that Buttigieg didn’t hesitate to step away from his high-level government position to make sure Gus and Penelope (and Chasten) have everything they need from him.

“We’re so thankful for all of the love and support shown to our family these last few months,” Chasten concluded the post. “And also, for the dedicated and kind medical professionals who have helped take care of our two little pumpkins as they’ve grown stronger, healthier, and cuter. ?”

We’re sending happy thoughts and healing energy to the Buttigieg family today.