J.D. Vance regrets “childless cat ladies” comment

Vice President J.D. Vance is now calling back his 2021 “childless cat ladies” comment about Democrats, saying in his new book that it was one of the “dumbest” things he’s ever said and that it distracted from his real argument about a society that feels hostil

For weeks and years, J.D. Vance’s “childless cat ladies” line has followed him like a headline that wouldn’t quit. Now, in his new book, Communion, the Vice President is stepping back from the remark—and the timing makes it feel less like a routine pivot and more like a long-delayed apology.

The comment dates back to 2021, when Vance was running for Senate in Ohio. During that campaign. he called then–Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic women “childless cat ladies. ” arguing that the group was “ruining the country.” It was a phrase designed to land hard. and it did—then it got harder when Vance emerged as Donald Trump’s running mate in 2024.

In Communion. Vance writes that “One of the dumbest things I ever said came when I argued that ‘childless cat ladies’ across the Democrat Party were running our country into the ground.” He says the comment triggered “two firestorms: the first when I made it. the second years later during a political campaign.”.

Vance doesn’t dress it up. He calls it “a boneheaded comment. intentionally (and successfully) provocative rather than illuminating.” He also acknowledges that he described Harris as one of several childless Democrats “who want to make the rest of the country miserable too. ” while ignoring that Harris has two stepchildren.

In the same passage. Vance says the line “had the added benefit of distracting from the actual point I wanted to make. ” which he now frames as a broader claim: “our society is becoming pathologically hostile to having kids.” He adds that he “could have made that point much more effectively. ” and with “the benefit of showing a little charity to the many Americans who — some for reasons beyond their control —­ don’t have children.”.

The book extends beyond the mea culpa. Vance spends much of Communion encouraging Americans to have more children. and in the epilogue he connects that push to personal loss. He writes that “in the immediate aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder. ” Kirk’s widow. Erika Kirk. sobbed that she regretted “only” having two kids with Charlie. Vance says that moment inspired him and Second Lady Usha Vance to conceive their fourth child.

He details how it happened: “Not long after we buried my friend, [Usha] became pregnant with our fourth child, a boy,” Vance writes. “One life was stolen from us, but another was given.”

Vance also ties his willingness to acknowledge mistakes to his Catholic faith, writing: “That brings me to another lesson of the faith for Christian statesmen,” before adding, “It’s okay to admit error.”

The “childless cat ladies” controversy wasn’t his only flashpoint around his family life. Most famously. on the “Full Send” podcast ahead of the 2024 election. Vance recounted a story about Donald calling him to invite him over as a running mate—only for the call to be interrupted by his 7-year-old son. who wanted to talk about Pokémon. Vance said he told his child to “shut the h*** up” about Pokémon.

Taken together. the book’s walk-back of the “childless cat ladies” remark reads like an attempt to separate a larger message about having children from the provocation that overtook it. Vance may be trying to reclaim his original point—but the record he now calls “one of the dumbest things” he ever said remains part of the path that got him here.

J.D. Vance Communion childless cat ladies Kamala Harris Donald Trump running mate Usha Vance Erika Kirk Charlie Kirk Pokémon Full Send podcast