JD Vance Says We Should Pray And Have Sympathy For People Without Children

Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, on Sunday said people who don’t have children can fully participate in American life, softening his earlier statements that the childless have a lesser stake in the country’s future.

Fox News host Trey Gowdy practically begged Vance to apologize for his 2021 remarks about the Democratic Party being run by “childless cat ladies” who supposedly have no “direct stake” in the country because they don’t have kids.

“It’s important for us to be pro-family as a country,” Vance said on “Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy.” “Of course, for a whole host of reasons, it’s not going to work out for some people. We should pray for those people and of course have sympathy for them.”

Vance’s 2021 commentary about the “childless left” and “childless cat ladies” recirculated after Trump named him his vice presidential running mate earlier this month, prompting a backlash that included criticism from celebrities such as actor Jennifer Aniston. Democrats have called Vance “weird,” and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign called him a creep. Some Republicans have questioned whether he was the right choice of running mate.

In an interview on Friday, Vance doubled down on his initial remarks, saying he had “nothing against cats” but was simply “true” that people without kids are less invested in America’s future.

On Sunday, Gowdy, a former Republican congressman, introduced his interview with Vance by suggesting his earlier comments had been a mistake.

“Those of us who talk for a living make mistakes. We say things that, in hindsight, we might phrase differently, better, or not at all,” Gowdy said.

Then Gowdy talked about Catholic nuns he’d met at an airport who offered to pray for him: