J.D. Vance defended comments this week where he slammed “childless cat ladies” and prompted outcry from Jennifer Aniston, Taylor Swift fans and more.
“Obviously it was a sarcastic comment,” Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate told Megyn Kelly Friday of the resurfaced comments, emphasizing that women from both sides of the political spectrum have actually thanked him for drawing attention to today’s “anti-family” ideals.
“I’ve got nothing against cats,” he said. “I’ve got nothing against dogs, I’ve got one dog at home and I love him.”
Watch the politician’s interview on SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show” in the video below:
The Ohio senator joined Kelly to address a 2021 appearance on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in which he argued that the country is being run by childless women to the detriment of U.S. politics. The resurfaced clip prompted intense backlash, including from some influential Hollywood circles.
“I’ve heard from a lot of conservative women, and frankly, a lot of liberal women who said, ‘I’m actually glad that you pointed out there’s become something profoundly anti-family in our public policy in our republic conversation,’” Vance said during his interview with Kelly.
Vance added that the comment he made in 2021 was “sarcastic, and he has “nothing against cats.”
“But look, people are focusing so much on the sarcasm and not on the substance of what I actually said,” Vance continued. “And the substance of what I said — I’m sorry, it’s true. It is true that we’ve become anti-family. It is true that the left has become anti-child.”
Vance was also criticized in recent days for his stance on IVF, with Aniston posting on social media Wednesday, “I truly can’t believe this is coming from a potential VP of the United States.”
“All I can say is … Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day. I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too,” the actress wrote.
Vance addressed his position on IVF access while on “The Megyn Kelly Show.”
“They say that I’m opposed to IVF or that I’m criticizing people who have fertility problems. I said explicitly in my remarks that I wasn’t talking about people who couldn’t have children,” he said. “I was talking about people who have turned anti-child into the ethic of their entire party.”
“You have Hollywood celebrities saying, ‘Well J.D. Vance, what if your daughter suffered fertility problems?’” Vance said. “Well, first of all, that’s disgusting because my daughter is two years old. And second of all, if she had fertility problems – as I said in that speech – I would try everything I could to try to help her because I believe families and babies are a good thing.
“Of course, we want to make it easier for moms and dads to choose life if, of course, they’re in a terrible situation where they have fertility problems,” Vance added. “I think the problem with the Democrats approach on this is they’re trying to take away religious liberty.”
Watch Vance’s full interview on “The Megyn Kelly Show” in the video above.
