Second gentleman Sen. Doug Emhoff slammed Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio on Friday after it was revealed that Sen. Vance had criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for not having children, despite being a co-parent to two children from Sen. Emhoff's previous marriage.
“What he said was terrible. It was stupid. It was ignorant. And the reaction, not just around the country but around the world — you just look at what Jennifer Aniston said — I think it struck a chord with just about everybody and upset them, because family is family to everybody,” Emhoff told former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara on Bharara's podcast, released Friday.
Emhoff said Vance's comments show he doesn't understand the realities of modern families.
“You're basically saying to a lot of people in this country and in this world that they don't matter,” Emhoff said.
“The only thing that matters is the old-fashioned view of the so-called traditional family,” he added.“It's abhorrent. We love Kirsten so much, we get along so well, and we've done such a beautiful, seamless job raising our three children that I'm so proud of. It's so hard. It hurts my feelings. It's so sad. I'm so proud of my daughter Ella, who has supported her mother and her mothers.”
Mr Emhoff's daughter Ella Emhoff and his ex-wife Kirsten Emhoff have previously accused Vance of targeting their family – both Ella and her brother Cole were teenagers when Mr Emhoff and Ms Harris were married.
“These are baseless attacks. Kamala has been co-parenting with Doug and me for over a decade, since Cole and Ella were teenagers,” Kirsten Emhoff said in a statement to CNN. “She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective and always there for us. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her there.”
Vance's comments have only exacerbated his struggle to appeal to the public: He has already set a record as the most disliked major vice presidential candidate, even after the convention.
Taylor Van Kirk, a spokesman for Senator Vance, said his past comments had been misinterpreted.
“Once again, the left-wing media has misinterpreted Senator Vance's words and created a false narrative about where he stands on the issues. Democrats are in complete disarray after nominating the most unpopular vice president in history as their party's nominee,” Van Kirk said in a statement to Business Insider.
In a 2021 interview, Vance, who would later be elected to the U.S. Senate, blasted the next generation of Democratic leaders for not having children.
“This country is effectively run through the Democrats and the corporate oligarchy by childless catwomen who are miserable about their lives and the choices they've made, so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too,” Vance told Fox News host Tucker Carlson at the time.
Vance stressed that he wasn't making fun of people who can't have children, but he included Harris in that group, even though she is stepmother to Emhoff's two children since marrying him in 2014.
On Friday, Vance sought to correct some of his earlier comments amid the backlash, without backing down from his belief that Democrats are “anti-family.”
“Obviously, it was a sarcastic remark. I don't have anything against cats, I don't have anything against dogs,” Vance said on former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly's podcast. “People are focusing on the sarcasm and not on what I actually said. And Megyn, what I said was, I'm sorry. That's true“
In selecting Vance, former President Donald Trump made clear he was promoting someone he could help lead a populist movement that has replaced traditional conservatism within the Republican Party.
