New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called out former President Donald Trump's running mate J.D. Vance with an epic fact-check after he claimed to be "pro-family" during a CNN appearance.
Vance spoke with network host Dana Bash about his now-infamous remarks about "childless cat ladies," which have generated significant controversy in recent weeks, angered women on both sides of the political aisle, and sparked concerns that he's bringing down the Trump/Vance ticket.
Vance told Bash that Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign "actually lied about what I said" and asserted he is "pro-family":
“I’m pro-family. I want us to have more families. And obviously sometimes it doesn’t work out, sometimes for medical reasons, sometimes because you don’t meet the right person. But the point is that our country has become anti-family in its public policy.”
Vance said that after one of his children was born, he and his wife received "a ridiculous out-of-network medical bill" that "happened because we have ridiculous laws in this country that are anti-family." He said he has "sponsored legislation" to address issues like this.
Bash then asked him to respond to criticisms about his prior remarks, which were in part directed at Harris (who has two stepchildren) and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (who has adopted twins). But Vance attempted to steer the conversation into a different direction, expressing affection for his stepmother and insisting that he was simply criticizing Harris for representing "ideas that are anti-family."
You can hear his remarks in the video below.
Shortly after the footage of his remarks began making the rounds online, Ocasio-Cortez pointed out that Vance has not once expressed his support for policies that would, in fact, be "pro-family."
She wrote:
"If Vance is so fixated on who has kids, he must support pro-family policies, right?"
"Like a living wage? Parental leave? Child Tax Credit? Affordable housing? Guaranteed healthcare? Universal childcare?"
"Oh right, he doesn’t. He just wants an excuse to surveil & subjugate women."
You can see her post below.
Many concurred.
Vance has made family policy a central theme of his vice presidential campaign, but Democrats have quickly countered, pointing to GOP opposition to major pro-family initiatives.
Vance has reinforced his claim that people without children lack the unique “perspective” of parents, while also accusing Democrats of discouraging procreation, stating that the left "has increasingly become explicitly anti-child and anti-family" and that "they’ve encouraged young families not to have children at all, because of concerns over climate change."
Vance's comments about the "increasingly anti-parent and anti-child attitude of the left" have not gone over well with Democrats in Congress, especially those who have long advocated for new federal benefits for working families but have faced opposition from Republicans resistant to new federal programs, increased spending, or both.
For example, no Republican supported the American Rescue Plan, President Biden’s emergency spending package to address the COVID-19 pandemic, which included $24 billion to help childcare facilities survive the crisis.
More recently, Democrats have pointed to Project 2025, a set of conservative and right-wing policy proposals from the Heritage Foundation aimed at restructuring the United States federal government and consolidating executive power if the Republican nominee wins the 2024 presidential election.
Project 2025 calls for eliminating Head Start, a program that provides low-income children with health, education, and childcare services. Democrats argue that this agenda further proves that Republicans are wrong in accusing them of being anti-family.
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