After Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) caught flak for controversial comments about “childless cat ladies,” former President Donald Trump ’s campaign is hitting back with a spirited defense.
"The fact of the matter is, it’s been blatantly taken out of context," Trump campaign advisor Chris LaCivita said during a Brian Kilmeade Show segment that aired on Friday. Asked if the Trump campaign was against “childless women,” Lacivita retorted, "No, that’s absurd. It’s absolutely absurd."
Lacivita’s support for Trump’s running mate comes after a media firestorm erupted over comments Vance made several years ago. During a 2021 Fox News interview, the Ohio senator made observations about Vice President Kamala Harris — and other notable members of President Joe Biden's administration — not having biological children.
"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,” Vance told then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
“It’s just a basic fact — you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC — the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children,” Vance continued. “How does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?”
After the interview resurfaced on social media this week, critics were quick to note Harris has two stepchildren, while labeling Vance as sexist and extreme.
“What a normal, relatable guy who certainly doesn't hate women having freedoms,” former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mocked in a post to X.
During an interview on Friday, Vance said his comments should be interpreted as “sarcasm” as he responded to the backlash. “The point is not that she’s lesser. The point is that her party has pursued a set of policies that are profoundly anti-child,” the Ohio senator told conservative commentator Megyn Kelly.
“This is not about criticizing people who, for various reasons, didn't have kids. This is about criticizing the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-child," he added.
However, some in his own party disagree with Vance, warning that his remarks alienate women voters.
Meghan McCain, a conservative commentator and the daughter of late Republican Sen. John McCain, posted on X “I have been trying to warn every conservative man I know - these JD comments are activating women across all sides, including my most conservative Trump-supporting friends. These comments have caused real pain and are just innately unchristian. This is not who we are.”
Vance has sought to characterize himself as the defender of the family, supporting in vitro fertilization (IVF) protection legislation in the Senate, expressing concern about the U.S.’ historically low birth rate, and supporting the childcare tax credit.
As he defended Vance, Lacivita tried to deflect criticism about Trump’s running mate back onto the attackers.
"As a matter of fact, there was a discussion today, where the follow-up — the Democrat follow-up attack is that JD Vance believes that only people with children should get certain tax breaks,” the Trump spokesman noted.
"Well, that’s called the childcare tax credit," he continued. "So now we have the Democrat Party and the Kamala Harris campaign on record as opposing something that has been law for years which is, you know, the childcare tax credit."
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Lacivita referenced a comment from the Harris campaign on Friday that criticized Vance for supporting higher taxes for Americans without children.
Historically, the childcare tax credit has been a bipartisan issue, with Democrats supporting efforts to expand it this year.
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