Now that JD Vance is running for vice president, one wonders if he privately regrets his choice of words in 2021 when he grumbled to Tucker Carlson that the Democratic Party is run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.”
In that interview, the man recently selected as Donald Trump’s running mate also falsely stated the Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg were childless, when he mentioned them as people “without children” who are running the country, even as they don’t “really have a direct stake in it.”
As these comments are resurfacing, Vance has incited a variety of negative reactions, some darkly humorous and some angry and lacerating. His comments are seen as insulting to women and couples who don’t have children; to anyone, like Harris, who is a stepparent; and to people, like Buttigieg, who have become parents through adoption. Female cat owners also have filled social media with defiant memes, proudly declaring their “cat lady” credentials.
Singer Taylor Swift and her cat are seen in Soho on September 16, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Raymond Hall/GC Images)
But Vance’s biggest regrets could come from annoying one particular constituency: Taylor Swift fans, aka Swifties. The social media platform X has been filled with speculation about how Swift would react, as one of the most powerful women in American culture, as a woman who doesn’t have children and as the proud and adoring owner of three cats. In particular, people have shared the image of the pop megastar posing with one of her cats for Time magazine, when she was named that publication’s Person of the Year in 2023.
“Hell hath no fury like a certain childless cat lady who has yet to endorse a presidential candidate,” one X user wrote, while sharing an image of the Swift cover. That post has been viewed more than 1 million times.
To this post, someone replied, “A lot of cat ladies are gonna be mad.”
Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, attends a campaign rally, March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)
Another Twitter user also shared the Time cover, with another warning to Vance and to Republicans: “Wait till this cat lady unleashes her power to the young voters.”
Since Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race Sunday and endorsed Harris to replace him at the top of the Democratic ticket, the question of whether Swift would also endorse Harris has been swirling around efforts to defeat Trump in November.
If Swift endorsed Harris, it would mean that the most famous entertainer on the planet right now was lending her considerable cultural power to back the Bay Area native in her quest to make history by becoming the first woman, the first Black woman and the first Asian American to become president of the United States.
Vanity Fair writer Kase Wickman wrote that Swift is “the influencer to end all influencers, able to wield her massive popularity and power effectively enough to impact economies and legislation, moviemaking practices and album release strategies.”
Wickman also noted that Forbes named Swift the fifth most powerful woman in the world, with her ability to reach her hundreds of millions of social media followers, many of whom are fiercely loyal. Her endorsement for Harris would be “an incomparable asset to the former California senator’s nascent 2024 presidential campaign,” Wickman said.
Swift has used her voice in the past to influence politics, mostly by driving voter registration efforts in state and national elections. She also endorsed Biden and Harris’ successful run 2020, saying that the two in the White House would help heal the country after Trump stoked “the fires of white supremacy and racism” during his “entire” presidency from, 2017 to 2021.
Now Vance is Trump’s running mate as the former president seeks to return to the White House. But the Ohio senator’s resurfaced Fox News comments, deriding childless Americans and female cat owners, have mired him in a national discussion about women’s role in society and people’s personal family choices.
Vance, a father of three, made the comments to address a controversial speech he had just given to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Today reported. In it, he called a number of prominent Democratic leaders the “childless left,” whom he said had “no physical commitment to the future of this country.”
The “Hillbilly Elegy” author also included New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in his list of the “childless left.” While it’s true that AOC doesn’t have children, others are saying, “So what?” Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, chided Vance said in an X post: “As a childless cat lady I have a huge stake in America and am not miserable but thanks for your concern, Vance.”
Amid this controversy, Arwa Mahdawi, a columnist for The Guardian, produced an academic’s view that mirrored what Eskamani said. Rather than being “miserable,” as Vance said, women who are child-free by choice are often happier and healthier than men and married women with children, Mahdawi wrote, citing a 2019 speech by Paul Dolan, a professor of behavioral science at the London School of Economics. Dolan made headlines when he cited evidence that women are happier without kids or a spouse, Mahdawi said.
“(If) you’re a man, you should probably get married; if you’re a woman, don’t bother,” Dolan joked about the longitudinal data suggesting “the healthiest and happiest population subgroup are women who never married or had children.” While Mahdawi said Dolan didn’t address the happiness of women with cats, she said there is surely “a case to be made that a feline friend only adds to life satisfaction.”
More data could come from Swift herself. The 14-time Grammy winner seems be in a pretty good place with her life right now, as she winds up her blockbuster Eras tour this year, continues her very happy-looking romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and enjoys downtime with her three cats, as she contemplates the next arena of global culture that she’d conquer.