Vance refuses to back down from ‘childless cat lady’ comments and calls for 1 million to be deported

Republican vice presidential contender JD Vancemade a case for himself and Donald Trump on Sunday as he faces another week of backlash around his insults regarding “childless cat ladies,” Democrats and Americans without children.

On Sunday, Vance was asked about his comments regarding traditional families in America and decisions made by people who do not fit that mold. It’s a point that has been viewed by the left as a signal to right-wing conservatives, given that both Vice President Kamala Harris and fellow Democrat Pete Buttigieg came to start families through “nontraditional” means: in Harris’s case, through marriage to a single father; in Buttigieg’s, through adoption.

CNN’s Dana Bash questioned the Republican candidate on State of the Union whether he viewed those families as legitimate.

“Of course,” Vance responded, before pivoting to claims that the Harris campaign was lying about the “context” of his remarks. Bash attempted to press him further, but he easily steamrolled past her follow-up.

“Dana, I was raised....one of the first people I gave a hug to after my RNC convention speech was my step-mom,” he said.

“So she’s not childless, then?” Bash asked.

“Of course she’s not childless,” the Ohio senator responded.

BASH: You called out Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg. Harris has 2 stepchildren. Buttigieg has adopted twins. Do you recognize them as parents?

JD VANCE: Of course

BASH: I wouldn't say «of course.» You called them out by name. pic.twitter.com/9ImfN9qAD3

Speaking with ABC News, he elaborated further about his broader remarks regarding childless Americans and the “stakes” that they do or do not supposedly have in the country’s future. Vance, in his 2021 remarks to then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson,