Appearing on FNC’s “Fox & Friends” on Monday, Usha Vance, wife of Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), shared her thoughts on Vance’s “childfree cat lady” comments in 2021, which Democrats are using as a weapon for this election cycle.
Usha Vance dismissed it as a “joke” meant to make a point and maintained her husband’s comments were not intended to attack people trying to build a family.
“I wanted to ask you about some of the comments that have been circulating,” “Fox & Friends” co-host Ainsley Earhardt said. “In 2021, JD said, ‘We’re essentially run by childfree, cat-loving women,’ and criticized childfree government leaders. What was your reaction?”
Usha Vance responded, “Yeah, I mean, I took a moment to really look at what he said and try to understand what the context was and so forth, which is really something that I think people should do more often. And, actually, he was making a joke in order to make a substantive and actual meaningful point. And I wish sometimes people would spend less time saying those things and just going over these three words or those three words. Because what he was really trying to say is that it’s really hard to be a parent in this country. And sometimes our policies are designed in ways that make it even harder. And we should ask ourselves why that is true and what is it about our leaders and the way they think about the world that makes it so hard sometimes to be a parent. And I think that’s the conversation we should be having. And I understand why he said that.”
“What would you say to the women who have been offended or hurt by this?” Earhart asked.
“Firstly, I want to say that JD never wanted to say anything that would hurt anyone who is trying to start a family or is really struggling, and he has made that clear then and now,” Vance said. “We have many friends who have been in the same position, and while starting a family is hard, we would never want to ridicule or make fun of someone. We also understand that there are many other reasons why people choose not to have a family, many of which are valid reasons.”
“What I would say is look at the real conversation that he’s trying to have and engage in that and understand that many of us who have families, who want to have families and for whom it’s really difficult,” she added. “What can we do to make the situation better? What can we do to make life easier in 2024?”
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