Since former President Donald Trump selected "Hillbilly Elegy" author and Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate, Vance has been forced to contend with a trove of old media clips that women who support the Trump-Vance ticket are concerned will hurt their election chances.
Years ago, Vance said in a media interview that "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made" should not be in a position to run the country, lumping Vice President Kamala Harris into that category. He also said that Congress should "tax the things that are bad, and not tax the things that are good" by imposing a higher tax rate for individuals without children.
Vance's team says his launch at the Republican National Convention last month was a success, and that the Harris campaign dredged up old media clips to demonize her opponent. But women supporting the Republican ticket still think his comments and attempts to correct course are so far falling short, and hope that the junior senator with an "inspiring story" can "take back control" of the narrative.
"JD's phrasing is extremely off-putting to undecided women voters. He needs to fix his delivery to relay the messaging, or the Trump-Vance brand is doomed," Jessica Reed Kraus, founder of the House Inhabit Substack, told Fox News Digital.
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Rachael Dean Wilson, the managing director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) at the German Marshall Fund and former adviser to the late Sen. John McCain added that "attempting to divide women along the lines of mothers vs. non-mothers is poisonous" and only "benefits" American adversaries.
"Taking a step back from the campaign tit-for-tat, attempting to divide women along the lines of mothers vs. non-mothers is poisonous to our communities and political discourse," she said.
"I would encourage women of all political stripes to resist the tribalism these attack lines encourage on both sides. While this is an undoubtedly domestic conversation, I always like to remind people that deep domestic division and polarization benefits our adversaries abroad and weakens the United States on the world stage," she added.
Vance has made strides to leave the past behind him. Last week he took a trip to the southern border and railed against the Biden administration's policies that have led to record border crossings, contributing to spikes in violent and drug crime. He appeared on the Full Send podcast, which caters to a male, Gen-Z audience.
In an interview with "Fox and Friends," Usha Vance, wife to JD Vance, said that the "cat ladies" comment he made was a "quip in service of making a point that he wanted to make that was substantive."
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"And I just wish sometimes that people would talk about those things and that we would spend a lot less time just sort of going through this three-word phrase or that three-word phrase."
The "substance" of what JD Vance meant in those remarks, he says, is that public policy in this country has become "anti-family."
"Obviously, it was a sarcastic comment. I've got nothing against cats. I've got nothing against dogs. I've got one dog at home and I love 'em," Vance said of the cat comment in an interview with Megyn Kelly.
"But look, this is not— people are focusing so much on the sarcasm and not on the substance of what I actually said, and the substance of what I said, Megyn, I'm sorry, it's true. It is true that we become anti-family. It is true that the left has become anti-child. It is simply true that it's become way too hard to raise a family," he said.
That message has not fallen entirely on deaf ears. Hannah Claire Brimelow, co-host of "Timcast IRL," says she agrees with Vance, that "we should want leaders who have children because our values depend on being passed down to the next generation, and having children changes your view on your role in a civic society."
She added that the Harris campaign strategy of "bringing up a clip from 2021 to attack Vance seems like proof they don't have much else to criticize him for."
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But it’s been roughly two weeks since the proverbial cat got out of the bag, and Vance is still playing defense. Vanessa Santos, president and CEO of public relations firm Renegade DC, says Vance "needs to take back control of the narrative."
"The Harris campaign and the media are working together to make sure this 'cat lady' news cycle sees as much attention and does as much damage to Trump-Vance as possible. JD needs to take back control of the narrative. He needs to go on adversarial media, look at these dishonest media people in the eyes, defend himself, and expose them for their unapologetic hypocrisy," she said.
"Since she announced her candidacy, the media has completely whitewashed Kamala Harris' radical record, especially her abandonment of her border czar position, and continues to blindly accept her moderating positions," Santos added.
"JD has an inspiring story and a beautiful family. His story resonates with men and women alike, and especially with parents and young Gen Z voters who are worried that the American dream is out of reach for them. Pivot from the 'cat lady' media storm and double down on attacking Democrats on their terrible and destructive policies," she said.
Taylor Van Kirk, a spokeswoman for Vance, responded in a statement to Fox News Digital, "Senator Vance is laser focused on exposing Kamala Harris's weak, failed, and dangerously liberal record, and that's exactly what he'll do across key swing states over the coming days."
"Kamala Harris’s policies created crushing inflation, a historic crisis at our southern border, and rising crime - her agenda is to make Americans less prosperous and less secure. Democrats are creating false narratives about JD because they know their policies have been a disaster for American families," she said.
