Usha Vance calls ‘childless cat ladies’ comments a ‘quip’

Usha Vance downplayed her husband’s past comments about unmarried, childless women as a “quip” that opponents have taken out of context, defending him amid criticism that has surged since his nomination to be the Republican vice presidential candidate.

“The reality is, he made a quip in service of making a point that he wanted to make that was substantive,” Usha Vance said in a “Fox & Friends” interview about her husband, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, on Monday. “And I just wish sometimes that people would talk about those things and that we would spend a lot less time just sort of going through this three-word phrase or that three-word phrase.”

Since joining former President Donald Trump’s ticket, JD Vance has come under significant public scrutiny over resurfaced comments — including a clip of him suggesting parents should have more political power than Americans without children and calling Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats “childless cat ladies.”

Usha Vance argued that her husband had intended to discuss the challenges of being a parent in the U.S. and how policies may make it more difficult for parents to succeed. “That’s the conversation that I really think that we should have, and I understand why he was saying that,” Usha Vance said.

JD Vance, for his part, has done little to distance himself from his past comments. In a SiriusXM interview with conservative media personality Megyn Kelly, the senator worked to explain that his “sarcastic comment” was not criticizing people who do not have children but instead going after Democrats for advocating for policies he described as “anti-family.” He doubled down that “the substance of what I said, Megyn, I’m sorry, it is true,” adding he has “nothing against cats.”

Asked about what she would say to women offended by JD Vance’s comments, Usha Vance insisted her husband would never speak negatively about someone who was trying to have a family. She said it was not something “anyone would want to mock or make fun of” and acknowledged the “very good” reasons some people decide not to have children.

“I think what I would say is let’s try to look at the real conversation that he’s trying to have and engage with it and understand for those of us who do have families, for the many of us who want to have families and for whom it’s really hard, what can we do to make it better? What can we do to make it easier to live in 2024?” Usha Vance said.

JD Vance joined Senate Republicans in blocking a Democrat-backed bill to protect IVF in June but supported legislation reaffirming nationwide access to IVF co-sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.). The Republicans’ bill would cut off Medicaid funding to any state that bans IVF, while the Democrats’ bill would codify access to fertility treatments like IVF.

Throughout the interview, Usha Vance also responded to other comments JD Vance has previously made, including calling himself a “never Trump guy” and describing his now-partner on the ticket as an “idiot” and “Hitler.” Speaking of her own viewpoint on Trump, Usha Vance said she has had several years to “understand what it is that he’s out to do.”

“If I didn’t feel that the ticket, the Trump-Vance ticket, was able to do some real good for the country, then I wouldn’t be here supporting him and JD wouldn’t have done this,” she said. “So that’s where we are today.”

She and her husband don’t always agree politically and “come to different conclusions all the time,” Usha Vance said, but their conversations shape the way they each think about issues.

“What I never doubt about JD, even when I disagree about this or that, is his intention, what it is that he really wants to do and I really trust that in him,” Usha Vance said. “There’s a nice give and take, but I think it’s a pretty happy one.”

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