J.D. Vance’s "Childless Cat Ladies" Comment

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Overview

J.D. Vance’s "Childless Cat Ladies" Comment, also known as Childless Cat Lady, refers to a quote uttered by American politician J.D. Vance during a Fox News interview in late July 2021 in which he alleged that women who haven’t given birth like Vice President Kamala Harris and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives.” After the statement resurfaced in late July 2024 following Vance's selection by Donald Trump to be his VP, American actress Jennifer Aniston criticized Vance's comment via Instagram stories, which sparked a viral debate, fan art and memes under the hashtag "#childlesscatladies" on Twitter / X and TikTok.

Background

On July 29th, 2021, J.D. Vance stated the U.S. is being run by "childless cat ladies," naming Vice President Kamala Harris and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during an interview for the Tucker Carlson Tonight show on Fox News.^[1]

The video resurfaced in late July 2024, after Vance was picked by former President Donald Trump as his running mate for the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election.

On July 22nd, 2024, X^[2] user @RonFilipkowski uploaded the clip showing Vance's "childless cat ladies" quote, which quickly went viral and amassed more than 28 million views and 34,000 likes in three days (seen below).

Developments

Jennifer Aniston's Response

On July 24th, 2024, American actress Jennifer Aniston shared @RonFilipkowski's tweet via Instagram stories featuring Vance's "childless cat ladies" quote, writing, "I truly cannot believe this is coming from a potential VP. All I can say is … Mr Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day." The post^[3] (seen below) was widely shared and reported on by media outlets like The Guardian^[4], CNN^[5] and many others in the following days.

Online Reactions

J.D. Vance's controversial "childless cat ladies" quote inspired women to post videos and images featuring their cats under the hashtag "#childlesscatladies" to criticize the politician's comment about women without children. For example, on July 24th, 2024, TikTok^[6] user @thebulanigirl a video alongside her cat, captioning it, "Never been so happy to be a childless cat lady." The post (seen below, left) received roughly 5,000 plays and 750 likes in a day.

On the same day, TikTok^[7] user @andherescecelia uploaded a video holding her cat, captioning it, "Childless cat lady reporting for duty," which amassed over 369,000 plays and 87,000 likes in a day.

On July 24th, 2024, Doug Emhoff’s ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff, defended Vice President Kamala Harris against sexist criticisms about her lack of biological children, saying “These are baseless attacks. For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I." X^[8] user @katierogers tweeted Emhoff's quote (seen below), amassing more than 122,000 likes and 17,000 likes in two days.

The "childless cat ladies" quote also inspired the r/childlesscatladies channel on Reddit.^[9]