Usha Vance defends husband’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comment as a ‘quip’

Usha Vance, the wife of Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, defended her husband’s previous comments deriding childless adults and downplayed his labeling of some Democratic politicians as “childless cat ladies,” calling it a “quip.”

Usha Vance, the wife of Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, defended her husband’s previous comments deriding childless adults and downplayed his labeling of some Democratic politicians as “childless cat ladies,” calling it a “quip.” In a sit-down interview with Fox News on Monday, Usha Vance argued her husband’s past comments, which have received renewed scrutiny since he joined former President Donald Trump’s presidential ticket, were in service of an argument about the challenges facing parents and the role government plays in parents’ lives. “The reality is, JD made a quote – I mean, he made a quip, and he made a quip in service of making a point that he wanted to make that was substantive,” she said. “And I just wish sometimes that people would talk about those things and that we would spend a lot less time just sort of going through this three-word phrase or that three-word phrase.” “What he was really saying is that it can be really hard to be a parent in this country, and sometimes our policies are designed in a way that make it even harder,” she continued. Usha Vance said she believes her husband “would never” intend to offend people who are struggling to have children while acknowledging that some people choose not to start families for “very good” reasons. “JD, absolutely at the time and today, would never, ever, ever want to say something to hurt someone who was trying to have a family, who really was struggling with that,” she said. “I also understand there are a lot of other reasons why people may choose not to have families, and many of those reasons are very good.”