Her cat ownership is unknown, or at least not publicly discussed, but American Federation of Teachers (AFT) union President Randi Weingarten — cat or not — fails to merit full citizen status under GOP VP nominee JD Vance‘s much-criticized rubric for measuring who has a stake in the country’s future: Weingarten doesn’t have children.
[Vance has drawn broad criticism for his viral comment that the “childless cat ladies” who he says dominate Left-wing politics have “no direct stake” in America.]
Vance says it “disorients” and “disturbs” him that — though she has no children of her own — Weingarten runs a teacher’s union designed to make sure American educators are well-compensated and are accorded certain freedoms in the workplace.
In the recently resurfaced audio below, shared by the Kamala Harris campaign again this weekend, Vance says Weingarten’s elevated position in the education hierarchy, despite being childless, “disturbs” him on the MAGA premise that Weingarten’s purportedly Left-wing views are a form of “brainwashing” that she practices on children.
Unearthed audio: JD Vance says teachers who do not have biological children “disorient and really disturb” him: “She should have some of her own [children]” pic.twitter.com/anPGXHgZoH
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 29, 2024
Vance says: “It’s so many leaders of the left. I hate to be so personal about this, but they are people without kids who try to brainwash the minds of our children.”
Of Weingarten he says, “If she wants to brainwash and destroy the minds of children, she should have some of her own and leave ours the hell alone.”
[NOTE: Weingarten’s own AFT bio is clear about her challenges to MAGA initiatives, reading in part: “During the Trump administration, Weingarten led the AFT’s efforts to oppose Trump and Betsy DeVos’ fervent attempts to defund and destabilize public education and to stand up to the administration’s racist policies and attacks on facts and democracy.]
The post Harris’s campaign shared (see above) was captioned saying that Vance criticized “teachers” without biological kids, which — since Vance specifically targeted Weingarten (not a teacher) — MAGA is calling a gotcha moment and accusing the Harris campaign of misinformation.
Yet many people seem to believe this “gotcha” argument has little merit, since Vance has criticized “childless cat ladies” broadly and they see him using Weingarten here as a stand-in for similarly childless educators.
Castigating teachers for being childless is a dangerous slope, some say — an example of the kind of identity politics Republicans profess to abhor. One commenter opines below why dedication to the teaching life does not require, nor should it, one’s own identity to include the roles of mother or father.
JD Vance’s comments on teachers without biological children are troubling, suggesting they’re less relatable and capable. This view disregards the expertise and dedication of many teachers, undervalues chosen family and mentorship, and perpetuates harmful assumptions about family…
— Dr. Sidra (@Dr_Sidra_khan11) September 29, 2024