JD Vance's Reaction to His Viral ‘Childless Cat Ladies’ Comment Couldn't Be More Terrible

In 2021, Sen. JD Vance, the vice-presidential candidate, ignited a controversy with his disparaging comments about “childless cat ladies” running the country. During a Fox News segment, Vance told host Tucker Carlson, “We’re effectively run in this country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, 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." Meanwhile, Vance still stands with his previous remarks, as proven by his appearance on The Megyn Kelly Show recently, as reported by HuffPost.

During the show, Kelly asked him to address the backlash over his use of the term “cat ladies.” He said, “Obviously, it was a sarcastic comment. I’ve got nothing against cats. I've got nothing against dogs, I've got one dog at home and I love him. But look, people are focusing so much on the sarcasm and not on the substance of what I actually said, and the substance of what I said, Megyn, I’m sorry, it’s true." As reported by Newsweek, Vance added, “I know the media wants to attack me and wants me to back down, Megyn, but 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.”

"It's not a criticism of people who don't have children. I explicitly said in my remarks, despite the fact the media has lied about this, that this is not about criticizing people who, for various reasons, didn't have kids. This is about criticizing the Democratic party for becoming anti-family and anti-child," he added. However, Vance admitted that Kamala Harris has stepchildren as he said, “I wish her stepchildren, and Kamala Harris, and her whole family, the very best." “The point is not that she’s lesser. The point is that her a party has pursued of set of policies that are profoundly anti-child,” he added.

Vance highlighted two family policies that Democrats support but he opposes. “Why are they wanting to mask toddlers years into the pandemic? Why are they saying that we should get rid of the child tax credit, which lowers taxes for working families with children?” he said. Meanwhile, the comments drew widespread criticism. Harris' stepdaughter Ella shared a supportive statement and said, "How can you be 'childless' when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I. I love my three parents," as reported by PEOPLE.

Washington Senator Patty Murray took to her X account and wrote, "I can't believe I have to say this, but a woman's stake in our society has nothing to do with having children or owning cats. What JD Vance said is not just insulting and wrong, it's weird and off-putting." Actress Jennifer Aniston also wrote about this in her Instagram story. She stated, "I truly can't believe this is coming from a potential VP of The United States. Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day. I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her too."