Senator JD Vance, recently announced as former President Donald Trump’s running mate, has defended his 2021 remarks disparaging Democratic leaders, including Vice President Kamala Harris, as “childless cat ladies” who “want to make the rest of the country miserable.”
The comments resurfaced on social media following Trump’s announcement, drawing renewed attention and controversy.
In response to the scrutiny, Vance appeared on The Megyn Kelly Show on Sirius XM on Friday, standing by his remarks. He described his comments as sarcastic but reaffirmed his belief that having children provides a different perspective on societal issues.
“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.” Vance said. He added, “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.”
Vance dismissed the critiques as a distraction from the substance of his argument. “It’s not a criticism of people who don’t have children,” Vance clarified. “I explicitly said in my remarks that this is not about criticizing people who, for various reasons, don’t have kids. This is about criticizing the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-child.”
He argued that his comments were aimed at the Democratic Party’s alleged shift away from family-oriented values. “What I was basically saying is that 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,” Vance asserted.
Vance also criticized media coverage of his comments, suggesting that the focus on the sarcastic nature of his remarks overshadowed their substance. “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.”

Resurfacing controversy
In a July 2021 interview with then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Vance criticized Democratic leaders, suggesting that their lack of children influenced their policies and attitudes toward the country. He described figures like Harris, Pete Buttigieg, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as “miserable” and lacking a “direct stake” in the country because they do not have children.
“It’s just a basic fact — you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC — the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children,” Vance had said.
Criticism and backlash
The comments sparked backlash, particularly given Harris’s role as a stepmother to her husband Doug Emhoff’s two children, Cole and Ella.
Critics, including actress Jennifer Aniston and Ella Emhoff, challenged Vance’s characterization, with Ella responding on Instagram, “How can you be ‘childless’ when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I? I love my three parents.”