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Marc Short, Pence's former chief of staff, called the response from the White House \"faux outrage.\"

\"The White House would be wise to focus less on placating the woke police and focus more on bank failures, planes nearly colliding in mid-air, train derailments, and the continued supply chain crisis,\" Short said in a statement.

It's far from the first time that Buttigieg has faced criticism from those on the right for taking paid parental leave, with Pence's language echoing lines repeatedly espoused by Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

\"Pete Buttigieg has been on leave from his job since August after adopting a child. Paternity leave, they call it. Trying to figure out how to breastfeed, no word on how that went,\" Carlson said on his prime-time show two months after the twins were born.

\"PHOTO:
Jim Vondruska/Reuters, FILE
PHOTO: FILE - Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks at O'Hare airport in Chicago, Nov. 21, 2022.
>

ABC News' Gio Benitez asked Buttigieg on Monday if he thinks Pence owes him an apology, to which he responded, \"You know, I'll I'll let others speak to that. You know, it's it's a strange thing to me because last time I saw him, he asked me about my kids like a normal person would. I guess, you know, at a political event in white tie, it's a little different. But again, there's not a lot of time for me to focus on the Washington game because we have real work to do.\"

Buttigieg has spun the criticism before to say that \"maybe some good came out of\" the attacks he's faced.

\"It's helped us have a conversation about parental leave,\" he told co-hosts of \"The View\" in Oct. 2021. \"Every American ought to be able to get paid parental leave. That's something that the president believes in and has proposed. It's something I believe.\"

But, he continued, \"When parents take that parental leave, they need to be supported in making that choice.\"

Pence notably broke with Carlson's recent whitewashing of Jan. 6 in his speech Saturday and offered his strongest rebuke of former President Donald Trump yet.

\"History will hold Donald Trump accountable for Jan. 6,\" Pence said at the dinner. \"Make no mistake about it: What happened that day was a disgrace, and it mocks decency to portray it in any other way. President Trump was wrong. His reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day.\"

\"Tourists don't injure 140 police officers by simply sightseeing,\" he added. \"Tourists don't break down doors to get to the Speaker of the House. Tourists don't threaten public officials.\"

ABC News' Amanda Maile contributed to this report.

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