For 2024 Emmy Awards presenter Candice Bergen, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance's comment about the country being run by Democrats who are a " bunch of childless cat ladies " brought to mind the time former Vice President Dan Quayle went up against a fictional character.
Bergen playfully reminisced about a 1992 political speech where Indianapolis native Quayle attacked her “Murphy Brown” character for becoming pregnant and deciding to raise a child as a single mom.
"Oh, how far we've come," Bergen deadpanned during the Sunday broadcast. "Today a Republican candidate for vice president would never attack a woman for having kids. So as they say, my work here is done. Meow."
What did Dan Quayle say about Candice Bergen’s character Murphy Brown?
In a May 1992 speech on family values to the Commonwealth Club of California, then Vice President Dan Quayle ragged on the decision of the unmarried news anchor to have a child. The season 4 finale saw her give birth to a son.
During the presentation, Quayle said, ”marriage is a moral issue that requires cultural consensus, and the use of social sanctions. Bearing babies irresponsibly is, simply, wrong. Failing to support children one has fathered is wrong. We must be unequivocal about this.”
“It doesn't help matters when prime time TV has Murphy Brown — a character who supposedly epitomizes today's intelligent, highly paid, professional woman — mocking the importance of fathers, by bearing a child alone, and calling it just another ‘lifestyle choice’.”
How did “Murphy Brown” writers respond to Dan Quayle’s attack on the lead character?
Show creator and producer Diane English responded, “If the Vice President thinks it’s disgraceful for an unmarried woman to bear a child, and if he believes that a woman cannot adequately raise a child without a father, then he’d better make sure abortion remains safe and legal.”
Writers included Quayle's comments in the September 1992 Season 5 premiere episode, with Bergen as Murphy Brown saying to her co-worker Frank, “What planet is he on?”
“Tomorrow he’s probably going to get his head stuck in his golf bag and you’ll be old news,” Frank told her. “Murph, it’s Dan Quayle! Just forget about it!”
USA TODAY reporter Brian Truitt contributed to this report.
Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com: @cherylvjackson .
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Candice Bergen ties JD Vance to Dan Quayle: 'My work here is done'
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