Vice President J.D. Vance has described his 2021 remark about 'childless cat ladies' as one of the dumbest things he has ever said. The reflection appears in his forthcoming memoir Communion, which details his conversion to Catholicism.
Vance made the original comments while running for the U.S. Senate in Ohio during an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show. He argued that childless Democrats including Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg and AOC were running the country.
In the book Vance writes that the comment was intentionally provocative and caused two firestorms, one at the time and another during the 2024 campaign. He notes that it distracted from his point about society becoming hostile to having children.
The vice president adds that it is okay to admit error and concludes the episode was a clear moment where he failed to respect the dignity of every life as taught by the Catholic Church. The memoir is scheduled for release on Tuesday.