Trump's VP Pick JD Vance Defends Controversial ‘Childless Cat Ladies’ Remark On Kamala Harris, Other Democratic Politicians

US Presidential nominee Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance, has defended his past remarks in which he referred to Democratic politicians, including Vice President Kamala Harris, as a "bunch of childless cat ladies with miserable lives". The comments, originally made in 2021, faced backlash this week, with actress Jennifer Aniston among those who lashed out at him. 

According to BBC, Vance addressed the controversy during an interview with conservative media personality Megyn Kelly on Friday, stating "Obviously it was a sarcastic comment. People are focusing so much on the sarcasm and not on the substance of what I actually said." "The substance of what I said, Megyn - I'm sorry, it's true," he also said.

Vance, who is also a father of three, elucidated that his criticism was directed at the Democratic Party's stance on family and children, not at individuals who do not have children.

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"This is about criticising the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-children," he added. "The simple point that I made is that having children, becoming a father, becoming a mother, I really do think it changes your perspective in a pretty profound way," he further stated.

"I'm making an argument that our entire society has become skeptical and even hateful towards the idea of having kids," Vance mentioned, as quoted by BBC.

Vance On Politicians For Not Having Children

In the original 2021 interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Vance asked why some leading politicians, including Kamala Harris, did not have children. "The entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children," he stated at the time. "How does it make any sense we've turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?"

The Senator who hailed from Ohio stated that the country was being run "by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too".

Vance said on Friday, “I wish her step-children and Kamala Harris and her whole family the very best. The point is not that she’s lesser. The point is that her party has pursued a set of policies that are profoundly anti-child.”

Vance's remarks at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute in 2021 made a similar critique of Democrats while stating that his criticism did not target those unable to have children for biological or medical reasons.

Jennifer Aniston, who has publicly shared her struggles with in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), condemned Vance's comments, saying on Thursday, "I truly can’t believe that this is coming from a potential VP of the United States."

Pete Buttigieg, another Democratic politician mentioned by Vance, addressed the comments earlier this week, speaking about adopting twins with his husband, Chasten. "The really sad thing is he said that after Chasten and I had been through a fairly heart-breaking setback in our adoption journey," Buttigieg reported CNN’s The Source programme.