JD Vance Alleges Sarcasm in Latest Effort to Clean Up ‘Childless Hot Ladies’ Comment

Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance said calling top Democrats “a bunch of childless hot women” was just a “sarcastic remark” as he tried to deflect accusations of misogyny and redirect fire at his fellow Republican. Harris ticket, Tim Walz. , on Tuesday.

Related: Polls show Kamala Harris is ahead of Donald Trump in the 2024 US elections

“The media wants to be offended by a sarcastic comment I made before I even ran for United States Senate,” the Ohio senator and Republican vice presidential candidate told reporters in Philadelphia.

In response, a spokesperson for Harris said that Vance and Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, were “not pro-family, they are anti-women,” adding: “Women are paying attention – and will use their power at the ballot box.” .

Vance was in Philadelphia in direct opposition to Harris and Walz as the vice president and Minnesota governor prepared to host their first joint rally in the Pennsylvania city.

Calling Walz “a joke” and “one of the most extreme left-wing radicals in the entire United States government at any level,” Vance accused the governor of “wanting to send more manufacturing jobs to China” and of being weak in the face of protests. for racial justice in Minneapolis in the summer of 2020.

Still, Vance continued to face questions about his “babyless babes” comment, in which he named Harris.

Speaking in 2021 to then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Vance called senior Democrats in Congress and the Biden administration “a bunch of childless hotties who are unhappy with their own lives and the choices they’ve made and want to make.” the rest of the country is also miserable.

“It’s just a basic fact – you look at Kamala Harris, [transportation secretary] Pete Buttigieg, AOC [congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] – the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make sense to hand over our country to people who don’t really have a direct interest in it?”

Harris is the stepmother of two children. In 2021, Buttigieg adopted two children with his husband, Chasten. Ocasio-Cortez does not have children.

Vance’s comments — and other controversial statements — resurfaced after Trump picked him as his running mate last month.

Democrats and outside voices, including actress Jennifer Aniston, classified the comments from “hot women without children” as offensive. Polls show the public agrees. On Tuesday, a survey from the University of Massachusetts Amherst showed 64% of respondents said they disapproved of the statement that not having biological children harmed Harris’ ability to be president. Only 15% of Republicans approved.

Vance addressed the “childless hot women” controversy one day after his wife, Usha Vance, mother of his three children, claimed the comment was just a “joke.”

Usha Vance told Fox News that her husband “was really saying…that it can be really hard to be a parent in this country and sometimes our policies…make it even harder.”

She didn’t mention that JD Vance recently helped block a bill establishing the right to in vitro fertilization (IVF), a treatment that helps millions of people who would otherwise not have children.

In Philadelphia, the “babyless babes” comment was brought up at the end of an event where Vance repeatedly disparaged the media.

He told a reporter: “Now, you asked about the comments I made that you said were offensive to millions of women. Well, here’s what I’d say –”

A woman in the audience shouted, “This girl loves you.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Vance said to applause, adding, “We love you too.”

He continued: “What I said is very simple. I think American families are good and government policy should be more pro-family. Now, if the media wants to be offended by a sarcastic comment I made before I even ran for the United States Senate, then the media has the right to be offended.”

He then gave reasons why he said he was offended by Harris, from her role in immigration and border policy to the fact that she hasn’t given any interviews since becoming the Democratic nominee.

Related: JD Vance’s Wife Says His ‘Childless Hot Women’ Comment Was a ‘Joke’

Contacted for comment, Sarafina Chitika, a spokeswoman for Harris’ campaign, told the Guardian: “This may come as a surprise to Vance and Trump, but women don’t appreciate their personal choices and freedoms being attacked by politicians who invade their bedrooms. and medical offices. , trying to tell them if and when to have children.

“It’s particularly strange coming from the same man who voted against IVF protections and called universal daycare ‘class war against normal people’.

“Vance’s comments make it clear: he and Donald Trump are not pro-family, they are anti-women. Women are paying attention – and will use their power at the ballot box to elect Harris Vice President in November.”