Vice President J.D. Vance has apologized for a five-year-old remark that he now regards as dimwitted and counterproductive.
In his new book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” released Tuesday, Vance addressed the most controversial comment of his career.
“One of the dumbest things I ever said came when I argued that ‘childless cat ladies’ across the Democrat Party were running our country into the ground,” the vice president wrote in the book, according to NBC News, which obtained an advance copy of the memoir.
The vice president made that remark in 2021 on now-former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show.
“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,” the then-Ohio U.S. Senate candidate told Carlson in a clip posted to the social media platform X.
Vance proceeded to name then-Vice President Kamala Harris, then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Those childless Democrat leaders, he said, had no “direct stake” in America’s future.
JD Vance is looking back on one of his most controversial campaign moments with regret. In his upcoming memoir, the vice president calls his viral “childless cat ladies” remark “one of the dumbest things I ever said,” admitting it was a “boneheaded comment” that generated… pic.twitter.com/lPM3kmtmZT
— New York Post (@nypost) June 15, 2026
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The comment resurfaced in July 2024 after President Donald Trump, then the Republican presidential nominee, selected Vance as his running mate.
At the time, conservatives defended the remark as taken out of context.
Now, however, Vance has expressed regret.
“The comment caused two firestorms: the first when I made it, the second years later, during a political campaign,” the vice president wrote in his new book, according to NBC. “It was a boneheaded comment, intentionally (and successfully) provocative rather than illuminating.”
Moreover, the “childless cat ladies” quip “had the added benefit of distracting from the actual point I wanted to make, which was that our society is becoming pathologically hostile to having kids,” a point he could have made “much more effectively, and with the benefit of showing a little charity to the many Americans who — some for reasons beyond their control – don’t have children.”
“When I consider the Church’s admonition to respect the dignity of every life,” he concluded, “this was a clear moment where I failed.”
Vance also addressed the comment during Tuesday’s much-ballyhooed appearance on ABC’s “The View.”
“Did that comment actually shed light on something and start a discussion? Or did it just close people down? And when I make a comment that just closes people down instead of trying to appreciate the point that I make, that’s a mistake, right? And that’s on me to do better,” the vice president said in another clip posted to X.
Vance made those remarks during a segment in which he also acknowledged that Christians must show and receive “grace.”
Vice President JD Vance crossed into enemy territory today and walked away with The View’s audience laughing on his side.
At one point, Joy Behar reached for the “childless cat ladies” line, begging for a fight. Vance refused to give her one.
JOY: “In the book, Mr. Vice… pic.twitter.com/QNrkz7texL
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) June 16, 2026
Thus far, the vice president has had a busy week on news and talk shows.
On Tuesday, he also appeared on Fox News’ late-night juggernaut “Gutfeld!” where he reported that his largely amicable experience on “The View” went better than expected.
Since Sunday, Vance has also made the rounds on network morning shows.
In those appearances, the vice president explained and defended Trump’s Iran peace deal.
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