Sarah Huckabee Sanders slammed Kamala Harris on Tuesday night for not having children of her own. The insult comes after pop star Taylor Swift joined the brigade of childless cat ladies who supported the Democratic presidential candidate.
The governor of Arkansas told a crowd in Detroit ahead of a rally with Donald Trump: “The most important job I have and the greatest title I have is mother.”
“My children are a lasting reminder of what is at stake in this country,” said Huckabee, who has three children.
“My children are not only a constant reminder of what’s important, they keep me humble,” she added. “My children keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything that keeps her humble.”
Harris has no biological children, but is stepmother to husband Doug Emhoff’s two children Ella and Cole from his previous marriage. The kids call her “Momala” and she and Emhoff have a good relationship with Emhoff’s ex-wife when it comes to their blended family.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders: ‘My kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything that keeps her humble.’
The status of Harris’ family came back into the spotlight after Trump named J.D. Vance as his running mate and an old 2021 interview resurfaced in which Vance complained that the United States was being ruled by “childless cat ladies” like Harris, women he said had no “direct stake” in the country’s future.
Several women were outraged and formed “childless cat ladies” for Harris groups.
Christine Pelosi, political adviser and daughter of Nancy Pelosi, and Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, hosted a massive Zoom meeting of “cat ladies” for Harris.
Women came to Harris’s aid, including the mother of her stepchildren.
“For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has co-parented with Doug and I,” Kerstin Emhoff said in a statement.
“She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her as a part of it.”
Ella Emhoff also defended her stepmother, writing in an Instagram post: “How can you be ‘childless’ when you have such adorable children as Cole and I?”
Harris married Emhoff in 2014, when Cole and Ella were teenagers.
Swift, who is childless but has three cats, joined them last week when she announced her support for Harris. She included a photo of herself and her ragdoll cat, Benjamin Button, in her announcement. She signed it, “Childless Cat Lady.”
In her post, she also called on her millions of fans to register to vote.
She noted that “I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she’s fighting for the rights and causes that I believe need a warrior to defend. I think she’s a determined, talented leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we’re led by calm and not chaos. I was so encouraged and impressed by her choice of running mate @timwalz, who has spent decades advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body.”
“I’ve done my research and I’ve made my choice. It’s completely up to you to do your research and make the choice. I also want to say, especially to first-time voters, remember that you have to be registered to vote! I also find it much easier to vote early. I’ll link in my story where you can register and where you can find the dates and information for early voting,” she wrote.
Vance, on the other hand, called Swift “fundamentally disconnected.”
“We admire Taylor Swift’s music, but I don’t think most Americans, whether they like her music or are fans of hers or not, are going to be influenced by a famous billionaire,” he told Fox News.
Kamala Harris is a stepmother to two children from her husband Doug Emhoff’s first marriage, they call her ‘momala’
Taylor Swift Called Herself a Childless Cat Lady When She Supported Kamala Harris
Pets have played an unusual role in this year’s election. Vance also spread a false rumor that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, were eating their neighbors’ pets.
Trump repeated this accusation last week during his debate with Harris.
“In Springfield, they eat the dogs. The people that came in, they eat the cats. They eat, they eat the pets of the people that live there,” Trump said.
The city received bomb threats after the attack.
Even President Joe Biden weighed in on the issue, calling Trump’s accusations against immigrants racist.