Meghan McCain slams 'cruel politics' after Pete Buttigieg CPS investigation
Political commentator Meghan McCain is weighing in on the intentionally false abuse claims against former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.
“Absolutely horrified at what happened to @PeteButtigieg and his family,” the former The View cohost, 41, wrote via X on Saturday, June 27. “I am so sick of dirty, cruel politics and am truly deeply upset by the involvement of his children.”
She concluded, “This world has to do better.”
On Friday, June 26, the former secretary of transportation, 44, revealed that he had been the target of an intentionally fake abuse claim to child protective services (CPS), resulting in an investigation.
“Someone decided to hurt our family this week,” Buttigieg wrote via Substack. “They explained that there had been an allegation against me, that it concerned our 4-year-old twins and that a forensic interview had been arranged for the children the following day. I could not be present at the children’s interview, nor could any family member sit in.”
Buttigieg shares twins Penelope and Gus with his husband, Chasten Buttigieg. The pair married in June 2018, making Pete one of the most prolific openly gay politicians in American politics. As such, he has also been subjected to anti-LGBTQ attacks.
“I was bewildered and troubled, but tried to stay calm,” Pete continued in his Substack post. “I’m used to any number of falsehoods, attacks and serious problems being thrown my way. What I didn’t understand was what could have led to this kind of visit. Then, the CPS worker told me something that made my stomach turn: I was not to be alone around the children, at least until the interview took place the next day.”
As a result of the investigation, the former Mayor of Sound Bend, Indiana, was forced to leave his two children with their grandparents.
“The 24 hours until they returned are among the darkest hours of my life,” he wrote. “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.”
After the investigation and interview, authorities told Pete that the abuse claim was made by an “anonymous” individual.
“The caller said that he had spoken to a woman who claimed to have met me at a conference several years ago in Alabama, where she said I told her that I had committed unspeakable violent crimes, and the caller believed my children were still at risk,” Pete claimed. “That was all. The officer had a couple of obvious questions. He asked if I had been to a town where the woman claimed she had met me. I have not. Then, the officer made clear that he believed this was politically motivated, and said it would not be referred to a prosecutor.”
Neither the law enforcement officials nor CPS found evidence to substantiate the accuser’s allegation, meaning that Pete could resume watching his kids “unsupervised.”
“Now, our family is left to deal with the aftermath,” Pete stated in his essay. “I worry about any unseen effects this had on our kids, on Chasten and me and on the rest of our family. Even though the accusation was absurdly and obviously false, and was promptly rejected by law enforcement, I still worry about the harm it has done.”
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This story was originally published June 27, 2026 at 8:38 AM.