I'm Going To Carbondale Today. I am a Refugee.

Pete Buttigieg has tried to carve out a niche among Democratic presidential hopefuls as the candidate who is comfortable talking about religion. Unfortunately, he’s only comfortable trying to use religion as a means of beating conservatives, especially religious ones, over the head.
This annoying penchant was on display again in Buttigieg’s Christmas message. He tweeted:

Today I join millions around the world in celebrating the arrival of divinity on earth, who came into this world not in riches but in poverty, not as a citizen but as a refugee. No matter where or how we celebrate, merry Christmas.

Buttigieg’s message struck me as fake history. To my understanding, Jesus (the name Buttigieg conspicuously omitted from his tweet) came into the world neither as a refugee nor in poverty.
I’m not an expert on these matters, so tonight on our Power Line VIP program, I checked with John, a devout Christian and student of religion. John confirmed that Joseph, a carpenter, was a working man and not impoverished.

Joseph was also not a refugee, whatever that might mean in the context of the Roman Empire. Joseph and his family were traveling back to Joseph’s native town because the Romans were requiring people to do so for purposes of a census. They weren’t fleeing anyone, nor were they homeless. They were travelers, not refugees.