“Fox News Sunday” host Mike Emanuel challenged Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg directly after Chasten Buttigieg mocked Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh amid pro-abortion protests.
Emanuel spoke to Buttigieg on Sunday morning, asking whether he believed it was appropriate for the husband of a cabinet secretary to suggest that Kavanaugh essentially had it coming when protesters attempted to disrupt his dinner at a Washington, D.C., Morton’s Steak House. Critics had quickly pushed back on Chasten Buttigieg, arguing that he shouldn’t be condoning such protests against a man who had recently been the target of an alleged assassination attempt.
WATCH:
"Is that appropriate, Sir?" Fox's @MikeEmanuelFox challenges Pete Buttigieg after husband Chasten mocks Justice Kavanaugh amid pro-abortion protests. pic.twitter.com/mLa8591EUh
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) July 10, 2022
“Let’s go to a red-hot issue in Washington, your husband tweeted after Justice Brett Kavanaugh left a Washington restaurant due to protesters — the tweet reads, ‘Sounds like he just wanted some privacy to make his own dining decisions.’ Is that appropriate, sir?” Emanuel asked.
Buttigieg began by saying that while he agreed that public officials should be protected from “violence, harassment, and intimidation,” he said that they should expect people to protest peacefully and criticize them in public spaces.
“That is what happened in this case. Remember, the justice never even came into contact with these protesters, reportedly didn’t see or hear them,” Buttigieg continued. “These protesters are upset because an important rite that the majority of Americans support was taken away. Not only the right to choose, by the way, but this justice was part of the process of stripping away the right to privacy. As long as I’ve been alive, settled case law in the United States has been that the Constitution protected the right to privacy. That has now been thrown out the window by justices, including Justice Kavanaugh who I recall swore up and down in front of God and everyone including United States Congress that they were going to leave settled case law alone. So yes, people are upset. They’re going to exercise their First Amendment rights long as it’s peaceful that is protected.”
Buttigieg then tried to invoke January 6th, claiming that the rioters had been “summoned” to the Capitol “for the purpose of overthrowing the election,” arguing that they had “very nearly succeeded in preventing the peaceful transfer of power.”
“But as a high-profile public figure, sir, are you comfortable with protesters protesting when you and your husband go to dinner at a restaurant?” Emanuel pressed again.
“Protesting peacefully outside in a public space, sure. Look, I can’t even tell you the number of spaces, venues, and scenarios where I have been protested. The bottom line is this: any public figure should always, always be free from violence, intimidation, and harassment, but should never be free from criticism or people exercising their First Amendment rights,” he said.