‘Proudly a cat lady and childless,’ say American women offended by Trump’s VP

A phrase said by Donald Trump’s vice presidential candidate, JD Vance, is leading hundreds of American women to proudly come out as ‘old cat ladies’ and childless.

The comment, made by JD Vance in 2021, when he was a senator, was picked up in recent weeks by the American press, after Trump announced him as his vice president. At the time, he directed the criticism at Kamala Harris, then the Secretary of Transportation, and two Democratic congressmen, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Pete Buttigieg.

“We are being governed by a bunch of childless old cats who are miserable about their own choices and want to make the rest of the country miserable as well,” Vance said at the time in an interview with Fox News.

“For example, look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The future of the Democratic Party is controlled by childless people who have no place in society,” the current vice presidential candidate continued. Kamala Harris has two stepchildren, Rep. Pete Buttigieg adopted two children with his husband in 2021, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has no children of her own.

After Vance’s interview resurfaced, celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Whoopi Goldberg and Gloria Steinem spoke out.

“I can’t believe this is coming from a potential president of the United States,” Jennifer Aniston said on Instagram. The 55-year-old actress revealed in 2022 that she had struggled with infertility for years and had done everything she could to get pregnant while facing pressure and speculation from all sides.

“I wish your daughter the luck to one day be able to carry her own children. I hope she doesn’t have to resort to in vitro fertilization, because you tried to take even that away from her,” Jennifer wrote.

In June of this year, the vice-presidential candidate voted against a Democratic Party bill to make artificial insemination more accessible to the American population, as part of a reproductive rights package.

Whoopi Goldberg also spoke out against the candidate. “Sir, there are people who choose not to have children for different reasons, there are people who can’t have children. How dare you? You’ve never had a baby, your wife had a baby. You don’t know anything about this,” the actress said on a morning show. Whoopi became a mother at the age of 18 to her only daughter, Alexandrea Dean Martin.

Writer Gloria Steinem, 90, an important figure in contemporary feminism, also appeared on Instagram responding to the candidate’s speech and holding her cat Magritte. The post was made by representatives of the foundation that bears her name. “Gloria is a proud cat lady without children and has shared her home with many felines throughout her life,” the post says.

An Instagram page created in July of this year called Childless Cat Ladies is dedicated to posting photos of followers with their cats. “A fever dream by JD Vance. We are childless. We are cat ladies. We have a place in this country,” reads the page’s description.

One of the people honored by the page is country singer Dolly Parton, 78. In the photo, she is seen holding a kitten. “Dolly Parton. American heroine. Native American descendant. Old cat lady without a child,” reads the caption.

Campaign

Kamala Harris took advantage of the movement to launch a campaign with singer Carole King, 82, a well-known supporter of the Democratic Party.

In the campaign, the singer presents herself as the “original cat lady” and asks for cash donations from the candidate’s supporters.

“I am personally writing this email to invite you to join the movement to elect Kamala Harris as President of the United States and definitively defeat the Orange Man,” the campaign text reads.

“Telemachus the cat would join us if he were still here. We have a place in society and Kamala inspires a movement of people who value dignity, decency and freedom.”