JD Vance defends 'childless cat ladies' remark amid backlash

Donald Trump's vice-presidential candidate, JD Vance, has defended his previously resurfaced remark, where he referred to Democratic politicians as a "bunch of childless cat ladies with miserable lives".

Vance’s remark, made in 2021, has been criticised, with Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston among those to have hit out at the Republican.

"Apparently it was a sarcastic comment. People are focusing so much on the sarcasm and not on the substance of what I actually said," Vance explained to Megyn Kelly, conservative media personality on Friday (July 26).

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Further adding he said, "the substance of what I said, Megyn - I'm sorry, it's true."

Vance, father of three, said he was not criticising those who do not have children in the interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, which he gave while running for the Senate.

"The remark was about criticising the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-children," he explained at The Megyn Kelly Show.

"I was trying to say that having children, whether as a father or a mother, is a life-changing event that significantly shapes your worldview in a pretty profound way. I'm simply trying to make an argument that our entire society has become skeptical and even hateful towards the idea of having kids," he explained.

It may be recalled here, in the original interview, he questioned why some leading politicians did not have children, mentioning Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for November's election, who is stepmother to her husband Doug Emhoff’s two children.

"The future of the Democrats is controlled by those who do not have children," he said at the time and added, “how does it make any sense we've turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?"

Vance had earlier stated that “the country was being run by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too".

Defending his comment, on Friday, Vance said, “I wish Kamala Harris and her whole family the very best. The point is not that she’s less significant, the point is that her party has pursued a set of policies that are profoundly anti-child.”

Actress Jennifer Aniston, who has spoken publicly about her struggles while trying to have children through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), strongly criticised his comments.

"I truly can’t believe that this is coming from a potential VP of the United States," Aniston said on Thursday (July 25).

(With inputs from agencies)