One of the catchphrases of this election came from a moment three years ago when Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance mocked Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats he accused of being anti-family, calling them “childless cat ladies.”
The Harris campaign and his Democratic allies seized on the comments to label the Trump-Vance ticket “weird,” forcing the former president and his running mate to better explain their views. Vance has long expressed concern about the declining birthrate, saying the United States cannot continue as a nation if current trends continue.
Vance has not apologized and says he was taken out of context, claiming he wasn’t criticizing people for not having kids, but for being “anti-kid.”
Here’s a look at what Vance has to say.
What are the views of the Vansen family?
Even before Vance got into politics, he has clearly expressed his concerns about the birth rate.
In a 2021 speech at the conservative Intercollegiate Studies Institute in Virginia, he floated the idea of allowing parents to vote for their children. He has since said it was a “thought experiment” rather than a policy proposal and said it would be “ridiculous” to change the voting system.
On abortion, Vance says he is “pro-life” and has previously indicated his support for a federal law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, believing in exceptions. He now defends Trump’s approach of leaving the decision up to the states.
Vance has also said he supports expanding the child tax credit, currently $2,000, to $5,000. Democrats recently attacked him for skipping a recent Senate vote that would have expanded the child tax credit. However, he said the effort was a “show vote” when bills are designed to fail but parties can highlight issues in front of voters. In this case, Democrats wanted to counter Vance’s claims that their party is “anti-family.”
He criticized the Biden administration’s efforts to control the rising costs of child care centers, arguing that in doing so the government encourages parents to return to work and neglects those who want to care for their children at home.
Vance praises Hungary as an example
In interviews, Vance has praised Hungarian nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s policies to encourage people to have more children and suggested the United States copy Hungary’s model.
Orbán’s government has presented itself as a defender of family values and offered generous subsidies and tax breaks for families with children. For example, women with at least four children are exempt from income tax for their lifetime. Married couples waiting to start a family can apply for a government-guaranteed low-interest loan for the purchase of an apartment, part of which does not have to be repaid if the woman gives birth to more than three children.
However, as the Hungarian economy has fallen into a deep recession, many of these family benefits have been cut or reduced. In addition, some experts say pro-family measures benefit only the middle and upper classes, while Hungary’s universal family allowance, which is available to all families regardless of income, has remained at the same low level of around $35 per child per month for decades. although Hungary has long struggled with the highest inflation in Europe.
In 2022, Orbán sparked international outrage when he said he did not want a “mixed-race society” in Europe. He strongly opposes immigration because it is not the answer to his country’s aging population.
Vance’s own family
Vance likes to reference his personal struggles when describing the policy, which he said will help make parenting easier for other families.
Vance has described a chaotic childhood raised by his grandparents in southwest Ohio and a mother who battled drug abuse. He converted to Catholicism as an adult.
The senator and his wife Usha Vance have two sons aged 4 and 7 and a 2-year-old daughter. Trial attorney Usha Vance left the law firm where she worked shortly after her husband was selected as Trump’s running mate. Usha has noted that she assisted her husband in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.
Defending Vance
The backlash Vance has received for some of his old remarks has meant Trump has had to explain and defend him.
“My interpretation is that he is strongly family-oriented. But that doesn’t mean if you don’t have a family, there’s something wrong with it,” he said at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago.
Supporters of pro-birthing and pro-marriage measures have praised Vance for bringing these ideas to a wider audience and supporting them.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who has known Vance since his writing days and has gubernatorial aspirations, said he would suggest the senator “tone down the sarcasm just a little bit” and give him credit for starting a conversation on an important issue.
“We have to point out that this is all brand new. We don’t have American politicians talking about this, and God bless him for bringing it up because we need to have that conversation,” he said.
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Associated Press writers Michelle R. Smith in Providence, Rhode Island, Justin Spike in Budapest and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.
