The New York Times' newly released full interview with Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) reveals the 2024 Republican vice presidential nominee is doubling down on one of his most notorious campaign attacks.
After former President Donald Trump officially selected Vance as his running mate, the Ohio senator's disparaging remarks about women came to light, particularly comments he made about childless women.
When the New York Times asked Vance if he regretted making such statements — like suggesting "childless cat ladies" were supposedly forcing a progressive agenda on Americans — the "Hillbilly Elegy" author refused to take them back.
"I do think that there’s this pathological frustration with children that just is a new thing in American society. I think it’s very dark," Vance said. "I think you see it sometimes in the political conversation, people saying, well, maybe we shouldn’t have kids because of climate change."
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The Ohio Republican attempted to clarify that when talking about childless Americans, he wasn't referring to women who weren't able to bear children for medical reasons. Rather, he insisted that it was "very deranged" for Americans to choose to not want to bring children into the world due to the growing threat of climate change.
"You know, when I’ve used this word sociopathic? Like, that, I think, is a very deranged idea: the idea that you shouldn’t have a family because of concerns over climate change," he continued. "Doesn’t mean you can’t worry about climate change, but in the focus on childless cat ladies, we missed the substance of what I said."
Vance's characterization of Americans not wanting to have children due to climate change is an increasingly common occurrence. In a 2023 Washington Post op-ed, University of Chicago professor Peggy O'Donnell Heffington cited a 2021 survey of 10,000 people between the ages of 16 and 25, in which 60% said they were either "very" or "extremely" concerned about the climate. Roughly 40% said they were "hesitant to have children" due to the rapidly warming climate.
One of those women is journalist Anna Grace Lee, who is a reporting fellow for the Times' Styles desk. In 2023, she wrote an essay for CNN explaining that while she personally wanted children, she also didn't want her future children to suffer in a world made unlivable due to climate change.
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"If things were different, I’d be honored to become a parent — indeed, I think there is no greater privilege or responsibility. But each day, the current state of the world dissuades me more and more from having children," she wrote. " Like many folks in Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012), my main concern is climate change. And, as climate catastrophes are already well in motion (coupled with a host of related socioeconomic and equality issues), I feel as if I would be doing an increasingly irreparable injustice to any children I would bring into this world with my inability to offer them a future."
Climate change has emerged as one of the most difficult-to-ignore issues of the 2024 election after hurricanes Helene and Milton ripped through the south.
