Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg defends Kavanaugh protesters, saying public officials 'should never be free from criticism or people exercising their First Amendment rights'

• Pete Buttigieg said political figures should expect to be met with criticism and peaceful protest.
• Buttigieg's husband made a quip online about Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the "right to privacy."

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said political officials should expect to be met with criticism and peaceful protest.

Buttigieg's remarks were made on "Fox News Sunday" in reference to his husband, Chasten, calling out Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

"Sounds like he just wanted some privacy to make his own dining decisions," Chasten Buttigieg tweeted on Friday, referring to Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh was disturbed by a group of protesters while he was eating dinner at Morton's, a steakhouse, in DC following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that established abortion rights across the nation.

When Fox News Anchor Mike Emanual asked about Chasten Buttigieg's tweet, Secretary Buttigieg pointed out that he has been protested many times in many spaces, adding, "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 added.

Buttigieg also pointed out that Kavanaugh never actually came into direct contact with the protesters — he instead left out the back of the restaurant.

"And these protesters are upset because a right, an important right that the majority of Americans support, was taken away," he said. "Not only the right to choose, by the way, but this justice was part of the process of stripping away the right to privacy."

The "right to privacy" established rights such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and access to contraceptives.

"As long as I've been alive, settled case law in the United States has been that the Constitution protected the right to privacy. And 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," Buttigieg added.

Buttigieg also compared the protest outside of Morton's to the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol.

"As a country right now, we're reckoning with the fact that a mob summoned by the former president attacked the United States Capitol, for the purpose of overthrowing the election and very nearly succeeded in preventing the peaceful transfer of power."

"I think common sense can tell the difference," he added.