Senator JD Vance has found himself in the center of a political storm after his comments about "childless cat ladies" resurfaced, drawing fierce criticism from prominent Democrats and celebrities alike. The controversy, which initially stemmed from a 2021 interview, has reignited debates on social media and news platforms, putting Vance on the defensive.
In the 2021 interview, Vance remarked, "We are 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 wanna make the rest of the country miserable, too." This comment, which specifically named Vice President Kamala Harris and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as examples, was recently revived, leading to an uproar.
Appearing on Fox News' "Sunday Night in America," Vance defended his statement, accusing Democrats of taking his words out of context. "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 because they don't have an agenda to run on themselves," Vance told host Trey Gowdy.
The backlash has been swift and intense. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, actress Jennifer Aniston, and the Harris campaign were among those who condemned Vance's remarks, alleging that they devalued women who do not have children or are unable to have children. Vance, however, sought to clarify his intent. "If you look at what the American people are most concerned about, it's not an out-of-context quip I made three years ago. It's the fact that Kamala Harris, the border czar, opened the American southern border. It's the fact that the Democratic Party has become explicitly anti-family in some of their policies," he stated.
Vance argued that being a parent profoundly affects one's perspective, and criticized Democrats for allegedly promoting anti-child and anti-family rhetoric. "There are a whole host of people who don't have children for a whole host of reasons, and they certainly are great people who can participate fully in the life of this country," Vance said. "So this is not a criticism and was never a criticism of everybody without children. That is a lie of the left. It is a criticism of the increasingly anti-parents and anti-child attitude of the left."
The controversy deepened when Jennifer Aniston, who has been open about her fertility struggles, criticized Vance on social media. Aniston's comment, "All I can say is ... Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day," was seen as a personal attack by Vance, who responded by calling her remarks "disgusting." He explained, "That's disgusting because my daughter is 2 years old. And second of all, if she had fertility problems, as I said in that speech, I would try everything I could to try to help her because I believe families and babies are a good thing."
Aniston's criticism included concerns about Vance's stance on reproductive health options, such as IVF, which she highlighted in her post. She pointed out the irony of Vance's comments given his political stance, saying, "I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too."
Vance's defense of his remarks emphasized his broader political message, which he claims is focused on promoting family values and criticizing what he sees as the Democratic Party's failure to support these values. He reiterated, "It's important for us to be pro-family as a country. Of course, for a whole host of reasons, it's not going to work out for some people. We should pray for those people and have sympathy for them. I still think that means we should be pro-family, generally speaking, as a party."
