Image via Mother Jones
***
Are you a woman? Do you have a cat (or a few)? Are you childless? In that case, congrats! James David Vance—more well-known as JD Vance—doesn’t think you should have a place in the government.
Vance believes that childless cat ladies shouldn’t be running the country. In 2021, Vance was interviewed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. On the popular right-wing show, he said that Kamala Harris is one of the “childless cat ladies” who “want[s] to make the rest of the country miserable too,” adding that “the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children.”
When he made these comments, Vance was an Ohio senator. While a significant amount of time has passed since then, his words have recently come back to light, given that he is former President Donald Trump’s running mate. Vance addressed these comments in July, saying on a radio show, “Obviously, it was a sarcastic comment. I’ve got nothing against cats…[Democrats] have become anti-family.”
Regardless of his explanation, there has been a surge of Democrat celebrities making fun of Vance’s comments. Carole King, a famous singer-songwriter, took to Instagram on August 1, posting her most iconic album cover, Tapestry, which features herself and her cat. King captioned the post, “Cat ladies for Kamala.” The comments were flooded with waves of support for King’s pride in her title as a “cat lady.”
Selena Gomez also recently poked fun at the VP nominee while presenting at the 2024 Emmy Awards. While joking about her older co-stars, Martin Short and Steve Martin, Gomez said, “Let me say, what an honor it is to work with two guys who are this far away from being childless cat ladies.” The comment got loads of laughter from the audience, who clearly understood the the star’s reference.
The celebrity to gain the most traction because of their thoughts on the matter was Taylor Swift. On September 10, 2024, Swift made a post endorsing the Harris-Walz campaign and reminded her fans to register to vote. The singer signed the message, “Childless Cat Lady.” After Swift’s post, 405,999 people visited vote.gov, a website that allows people to check their registration status and help them register to vote.
The singer also received attention from fellow celebrities. Elon Musk responded to Swift on X, saying, “Fine Taylor…you win…I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.” The insinuation that he would father Swift’s children did not sit well with many. Musk immediately faced backlash from the public, with people condemning the billionaire as “skin-crawlingly creepy.”
Those defending Swift from Musk’s response are among the large portion of the public that has rallied behind her and others calling themselves “childless cat ladies.” A Facebook group entitled Cat Ladies for Kamala Harris has gained over one hundred thousand members in the past few weeks. Companies such as Raygun are also capitalizing on the phrase by selling “Childless Cat Ladies for Kamala!” t-shirts.
JD Vance’s remark on cat ladies from three years ago is haunting his campaign for Vice President, as he seems more foolish and unserious to the general public. Time will tell if this regrettable comment will have a real impact on the election come November.
***
This article was edited by Francesca Rosario Bolastig and Hannorah Ragusa.
