Cat ladies

Why JD Vance’s 2021 comments about Kamala Harris and ‘childless cat ladies’ are going viral

People are giving insights about their lives as so-called cat ladies.

By Becca Wood

JD Vance's comments about "childless cat ladies" in government, including Vice President Kamala Harris, are stirring debate.

Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio senator JD Vance, first made the controversial remarks speaking to Tucker Carlson on Fox in July 2021.

Vance said the U.S. was being run by “childless cat ladies” who “force their misery on the rest of the country” and have no direct stake in the government because they don’t have kids.

Vance, who has three children, referred to Vice President Kamala Harris, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg by name.

The interview resurfaced in the wake of Harris’ rise as de facto Democratic candidate for president after current president, Joe Biden, withdrew from the race. 

In the wake of Vance’s resurfaced comments going viral, Harris’ family, including her stepdaughter Ella Emhoff and her husband Doug Emhoff’s ex-wife Kerstin Emhoff, have come to her defense.

People who do not, or can not, have children are also calling attention to the interview on social media.

What exactly did JD Vance say about cat ladies?

In July 2021, Vance went on Fox to address the controversial speech he had given to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute earlier that month. In it, he called a number of prominent Democratic leaders the “childless left” whom he said had “no physical commitment to the future of this country.”

In the interview on Fox, he said, “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 want to make the rest of the country miserable, too. And it’s just a basic fact if you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC — the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And 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.”

Vance then proposed that “if we want a healthy ruling class in this country, we should invest more, we should vote more, we should support more people who actually have kids. Because those are the people who ultimately have a more direct stake in the future of this country.”

When he found himself on blast for his comments, Vance said that he likely “struck a nerve.”

“I mean, these people recognize that they’re unhappy. They’re living in one-bedroom apartments in New York City. They’ve played their entire lives to win a status game. They’re obsessed with their jobs,” he said, claiming that they “hate normal Americans for choosing family.”

Vance added that this group of people would be “happier coming home to a smiling kid” than “worrying about their crappy job.”

How have people responded to JD Vance’s ‘cat lady’ remarks?

Sharing a clip of the interview on social media July 30, 2021, Ocasio-Cortez clapped back at Vance, who has historically worked in venture capital and cemented his funding in tech billionaires.

“When you accidentally let your billionaire funder-talk slip out on TV, you say things like ‘a healthy ruling class,’” Ocasio-Cortez wrote at the time.

Since the clip resurfaced in the past week, more have taken to social media to share photos of their not so “miserable” lives with their felines.

“JD Vance ‘has espoused traditional views of marriage and the role of women in the workplace. He has called Democratic leaders ‘childless cat ladies. As if being a childless cat lady is a bad thing?” one X user wrote, along with a picture of a cat standing in a plant looking up at the camera.

The clip also sparked dialogue about why people are childless, and whether having children is the only way a person can be invested in the future. 

Member of the Florida House of Representatives Anna Eskamani wrote on X, “As a childless cat lady I have a huge stake in America and am not miserable but thanks for your concern, Vance.”

“As a childless cat lady, Vance’s comments show an amazing lack of understanding as to (1) why some people are childless, (2) why people are motivated to invest in America and the next generation, and (3) most importantly, how awesome cats are,” one person wrote.

Images of Taylor Swift, who has three cats and posed with one on her TIME Person of the Year cover in 2023, abounded on X.

“Hell hath no fury like a certain childless cat lady who has yet to endorse a presidential candidate,” one X user shared, along with a photo of the Swift cover.

One person didn’t feel Vance gave enough representation to all the childless pet owners in America, sharing, “I take offense to JD Vance’s ‘childless cat lady’ comment for its erasure of us childless dog ladies.”

Does Vice President Kamala Harris have kids?

Harris has two stepchildren. Her husband, Doug Emhoff, is dad to Cole and Ella Emhoff from his first marriage.

In a 2019 essay for Elle, Harris described Cole and Ella as an “endless source of love and pure joy.”

“When Doug and I got married, Cole, Ella, and I agreed that we didn’t like the term ‘stepmom,’” she wrote at the time. “Instead, they came up with the name ‘Momala.’”

“I can say one thing with certainty, my heart wouldn’t be whole, nor my life full, without them,” she said. 

Following the cat lady comments resurfacing, Kirsten Emhoff, Doug Emhoff's ex-wife, defended Kamala Harrs.

“These are baseless attacks. For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I,” Kerstin Emhoff said in a statement first provided to CNN. “She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.”

Ella Emhoff took to Instagram to support her mother and stepmother.

"How can you be 'childless' when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I?" she wrote atop a photo of Kerstin Emhoff's statement. She also tagged her mom and said, "@Kemhoff say it louder for the people in the back."

Buttigieg and his husband are parents, too.

The couple announced they had adopted two children, Penelope Rose and Joseph August, in September 2021.