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By Steve Mollman
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Pete Buttigieg said a false report triggered a police investigation into his family, forcing him to spend a night away from his 4-year-old twins—an ordeal he called “among the darkest hours” of his life.
The former Transportation Secretary said the anonymous tip brought police and child welfare officials to his Michigan home, where authorities instructed him not to be alone with his children while the claims were investigated. The report was later determined to be false.
"This week someone targeted my family for harm with a false report," Buttigieg posted to X Friday evening. "We’re physically OK, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t harmed. I am beyond furious. Whatever your politics, this is awful, wrong, and can never become normal."
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Buttigieg, who shares twins with his husband, Chasten, said authorities arrived at his Traverse City home after receiving the anonymous allegation that he posed a danger to his children.
A Michigan State Police officer and a Child Protective Services worker responded to the report at the home and arranged forensic interviews for the twins. Buttigieg was told not to be alone with them until the process was complete, he wrote in a Substack post on Friday describing the ordeal.
Michigan State Police said they received an anonymous report and that officers and child welfare officials responded, but determined it was false.
Newsweek reached out to the Michigan State Police for comment on Friday evening.
False Report Investigated
Buttigieg said investigators told him the caller alleged he had confessed years earlier to violent crimes during a chance encounter in Alabama—a claim he said was impossible, noting he had never been to the town where the meeting supposedly occurred.
He said authorities told him the allegation would not be referred to prosecutors and that they believed the report may have been politically motivated.
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Separated From His Children
“I couldn’t be alone around my own children,” Buttigieg wrote, recalling the moment he was informed of the allegations.
"I cannot describe the mix of rage and sadness that I feel at the idea that someone brought our children into this,” he wrote. “They are four years old. Four. They do not know or care what a Democrat or a Republican is.”
He added: "I tried to get my head around the idea that I had been accused of something so serious that I couldn’t be alone around my own children, and had consented to have them interviewed by strangers, without my knowing where the accusation had come from or even what it contained."
Political Reactions
Multiple politicians from across the political aisle voiced their support for Buttigieg, with California Governor Gavin Newsom calling the report "disgusting and beyond the pale."
"Families should be off limits. Thinking of you, Chasten, and your children," Newsom said in a post on X.
Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said: "Horrifying. These politically charged attacks have become too common in America. It cannot be normalized, and leaders on both sides of the aisle must condemn this. Keeping Pete, Chasten, and their children in my thoughts this week."
Political commentator Meghan McCain said: "Absolutely horrified at what happened to Pete Buttigieg and his family. I am so sick of dirty, cruel politics and am truly deeply upset by the involvement of his children. It is wildly f***ed up. This world has to do better."
Similarly, conservative politician Vivek Ramaswamy said: "No parent should ever have to go through this, period."
Aftermath and Personal Impact
Buttigieg said the incident came shortly after he shared Father’s Day photos of his family online, raising concern that the report may have been timed to coincide with the post.
The former Biden administration official said he has faced death threats and personal attacks throughout his career—but described this episode as different.
He added: "Many times over the years, I have been denounced, yelled at, protested, threatened, and heckled. I’ve been through political attacks in office, death threats in public life, and rocket attacks in war. But this is the ugliest thing that has happened to me since my career in service began."
Swatting and Political Threats
The incident fits into a broader pattern of escalating threats targeting public officials.
Figures across party lines have increasingly been targeted by hoax emergency calls, often referred to as “swatting,” in which false reports prompt law enforcement responses at a victim’s home and can create serious risks for those involved.
In early 2024, then-Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said she had been targeted by repeated swatting, or hoax emergency calls, that sent police to her home multiple times.
“It’s a cruel and dangerous kind of hoax that has started happening more frequently in recent years,” Buttigieg wrote on Substack.
Authorities have warned that such false reports can escalate quickly, creating risks for both officers and those targeted.
Buttigieg framed his experience as part of a broader escalation in political hostility.
“Everyone knows politics is ugly these days,” he wrote. "It’s always been ugly, but now it feels more and more like bloodsport. Cruelty, lies, and even deadly violence have been directed at political figures across the ideological spectrum. Generally everyone agrees this has to stop, even as our country (and public figures) get all too used to it. Even so, this is different."
Authorities have not identified the source of the anonymous report.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gray R. Thomas and Ben Kelly.
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