Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) said his controversial comments about “childless cat ladies” were “taken out of context” and blown “out of proportion” by Democrats because that is “what they always do.”
The running mate of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has sought to defend his 2021 comments after they sparked backlash last week. Vance was referring to Vice President Kamala Harris and other top Democrats on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show at the time when he said there were “childless cat ladies” running the United States who “want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”
The Ohio Republican, speaking with Fox News’s Trey Gowdy on Sunday night, attempted to clarify his remarks, alleging Democrats such as Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, have become “anti-child and anti-family.”
“If you look at the full context of what I said, it’s very clear the Democrats have tried to take this thing out of context and blow it out of proportion, which is what they always do, Trey, because they don’t have an agenda to run on themselves,” Vance said. He then attempted to contrast Republicans with Democrats while saying it’s important for the country to be “pro-family.”
“Of course, for a whole host of reasons, it’s not going to work out for some people,” the senator said of people without children. “We should pray for those people and, of course, have sympathy for them. I still think that means we should be pro-family, generally speaking, as a party, and I think that our country has become particularly hard for parents, especially under the policies of Kamala Harris.”
The Harris campaign responded by suggesting Trump and Vance want to be too intrusive into citizens’ lives. “Every time JD opens his mouth is a reminder that a Trump-Vance administration would be focused on inserting themselves into every American’s living room, bedroom, and doctor’s office,” Harris for President spokesman Ammar Moussa wrote.
“It would just be weird if it wasn’t so dangerous — and it’s why the stakes this November are so incredibly high,” he added.
Vance made a similar defense on Friday when speaking with SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly Show when he said the “cat ladies” remark was a “sarcastic comment” but the “substance” of what he said was “true,” again accusing the Left of being “anti-family.”
Harris has two step-children, with their father being second gentleman Douglas Emhoff. Vance has three children with his wife, Usha.
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Vance’s comments from three years ago have ignited controversy, with celebrity Jennifer Aniston among the high-profile names to take strong issue with them.
Republicans have been shifting their focus to Harris since Biden dropped his bid for reelection on July 21 and endorsed his vice president. Harris’s campaign, on the other hand, has been attacking Vance relentlessly, calling the senator “weird.”
