Candice Bergen makes J.D. Vance her new Dan Quayle in Emmys speech

Candice Bergen is no stranger to the rancors of vice presidential campaigns, and she brought her wisdom, grace, and experience to the stage at tonight's Emmys. Before presenting the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy, Bergen recalled that while starring in the beloved and groundbreaking sitcom Murphy Brown, Vice President Dan Quayle, the veep who couldn't spell "potato," criticized her fictional character for deciding to raise a child as a single mother.

"In a classic moment, my character was attacked by Vice President Dan Quayle when Murphy became pregnant and decided to raise the baby as a single mother," she said. "Oh, how far we've come. Today, a Republican candidate would never attack a woman for having kids. So, as they say, my work here is done." Then, a swiftly deployed, "Meow."

Candice Bergen, who famously drew the ire of then-Vice President Dan Quayle when Murphy Brown raised a child as a single mother, reflects on how much has (not) changed since then in one of the #Emmys best moments. pic.twitter.com/4Gn5DbXAop

— Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) September 16, 2024

Again, Quayle's problem was with a character in a TV show. Nevertheless, it inspired the then-Vice President to whine to the Commonwealth Club of California that the show mocked “the importance of a father by bearing a child alone, and calling it just another ‘lifestyle choice'." The comment caused an uproar, and Murphy Brown included footage of the vice president attacking Bergen's fictional character in her highly-rated fictional TV series. Quayle was pushed out of office by January '93 and sent home licking his wounds with a case of cat scratch fever. Bergen felt compelled to remind audiences of this story in the year of our lord 2024 for, uh, reasons.