Pete Buttigieg sent touching message by husband Chasten after COVID forces them to self-isolate apart
Pete’s Buttigieg’s husband Chasten has hit back at a US Rep. over her ‘homophobic’ remark about parental leave. (Bruce Glikas/WireImage)
Pete Buttigieg has gone into quarantine for two weeks without his husband Chasten after a member of his security detail tested positive for COVID-19
The 39-year-old, who broke ground as the first Senate-approved openly gay cabinet official, will self-isolate for 14 days as per Centers for Disease Control recommendations, the department’s chief of staff Laura Schiller said in a statement Tuesday (9 February).
The transportation secretary came into “close contact” with an agent on Monday morning, prior to the agent’s positive test result, Schiller said.
Buttigieg, who has received his first coronavirus vaccine jab, has tested negative for the virus and has not shown any symptoms at the time of writing. He will receive the second dose “when his quarantine is completed”.
“I did have a negative test today and I feel fine,” Buttigieg said on Erin Burnett OutFront.
“I spoke to the agent and he feels all right as well. He’s not having any symptoms but he did test positive.”
The Buttigiegs at Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ inauguration. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty)
Pete Buttigieg is ‘frustrated’ that he is ‘separated’ from husband Chasten during quarantine
Pete Buttigieg’s husband Chasten, however, will not be quarantining with him. “Miss you!” Chasten wrote in a moving Instagram post, showing a photograph of his husband appearing on the CNN show.
“Of course, as it is for so many Americans that have been through this, frustrating to be confined to quarters, especially frustrating to be separated from my husband, who was not exposed when I was,” Pete Buttigieg explained.
“But making sure we do the right thing, and thankfully I’m among the Americans who are fortunate to be able to do that job from home.”
It comes after Pete Buttigieg was nominated by president Joe Biden to helm the US Department of Transportation, a post crucial to Biden’s bold climate change plan.
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Chasten Buttigieg, a teacher, stood behind his husband as he said words no cabinet nominee had ever said before in their opening statement: “I wanna thank president Biden for trusting me with this nomination, and I’d like to take a moment to introduce my husband, Chasten Buttigieg, who is here with me today.”
