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Donald Trump appears unconcerned by the resurgence of running mate J.D. Vance’s “childless cat lady” comments and the flood of criticism that followed. Instead, the former president and 2024 Republican candidate is arguing that the remarks prove Vance is a family man, while defending his choice of the Ohio senator to join his ticket.
“He loves family. It’s very important to him,” Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham during an interview that aired Monday night. “He grew up in a very interesting family situation. And he thinks family is a good thing,” Trump added of Vance. “And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that statement.”
The vice presidential candidate said in a 2021 interview with then-Fox host Tucker Carlson that the U.S. is run by Democratic “childless cat ladies who are unhappy with their own lives and the choices they’ve made and want to make the rest of the country unhappy.” “How does it make sense that we turned our country over to people who actually have no direct stake in it?” he added.
Vance has three children, Ewan, 6, Vivek, 4, and Mirabel, 2, with his wife, Usha, whom he met while the two were attending Yale together. Since Vance’s comments resurfaced, critics have come to the defense of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris, who last week became the de facto Democratic presidential nominee, has no children of her own but does have two stepdaughters with her husband, First Gentleman Doug Emhoff. Emhoff’s ex-wife Kerstin called the attacks “baseless” and said Harris is a “loving, nurturing, fiercely protective” co-parent to her children.
Vance said in his 2021 remarks Friday that Democrats are pushing “anti-children” policies. “I wish her stepchildren and Kamala Harris and her entire family the very best,” the Republican senator said. “The point is not that she is lesser. The point is that her party has pursued a set of policies that are profoundly anti-children.”
Trump, who supported his running mate, also said he doesn’t value adults with children more than adults who aren’t parents. “You know, you don’t meet the right person, or you don’t meet anyone at all,” Trump told Ingraham. “But you’re just as good, in many cases much better than someone who’s in a family situation.”
The former president says Democrats are blowing Vance’s years-old comment out of proportion. “He has tremendous support, and he really does have a certain group of people, people who love families,” Trump said. “He made a statement that had to do with families. That doesn’t mean that people who aren’t part of a big, beautiful family with 400 kids around them and everything else, it doesn’t mean that somebody doesn’t have — he’s not against anything.”
“Now they took that as a sign that people who don’t have families… oh, it’s so crazy,” he added. On The Megyn Kelly Show on Friday, Vance said his comments were “obviously sarcastic.” “People are focusing so much on the sarcasm and not on the content of what I actually said,” he explained. “The content of what I said, Megyn — I’m sorry, it’s true,” he added. “This is about criticizing the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-children.”
“The simple point I was making is that having children, becoming a father, becoming a mother, I think it really changes your perspective in a pretty profound way. I’m arguing that our entire society has become skeptical and even hateful toward the idea of having children.” Democrats say Vance’s comments were anti-woman, anti-gay and insulting to those who have difficulty conceiving.