‘Childless cat ladies,’ Jennifer Aniston, and Swifties take on JD Vance

Three years ago, well before JD Vance was selected as Donald Trump’s running mate, he suggested in a TV interview that some Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, are “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable.”

Those 2021 comments are resurfacing on social media now that Harris is the likely Democratic nominee, sparking a fresh wave of anger from women who say it’s offensive to those struggling with fertility issues – and inaccurate that people without children “don’t really have a direct stake” in the country’s future.

At the same time, many on social media are embracing and owning the “childless cat lady” label as a point of pride, with many even pointing to reported billionaire Taylor Swift as a prime example of a highly successful one – seen even on her 2023 Time “Person of the Year” cover with her fluffy rag doll wrapped around her neck.

“There’s a movement,” declared Nikki Barnes, a previous member of the Democratic National Committee from Florida, accompanied by a “Childless cat ladies for Harris 2024” image quickly amassing nearly 2 million views. On TikTok, people are snapping up “Cat ladies for Harris 2024” stickers.

The vociferous response to the resurfaced Vance comments – which have been shared widely and amassed nearly 28 million views on an X post shared Monday – only underscores how female reproductive rights including access to abortion, birth control and in vitro fertilization will be a major drivers in the 2024 race. Gender and racial attacks like the ones she experienced as a primary candidate in the 2020 race are poised to accelerate now that she’s the likely nominee.

For the record, Harris, 59, became a stepmom of two when she married Douglas Emhoff in 2014 and has been deeply involved in the lives of stepchildren Ella and Cole.

And Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whom Vance also named in his comments describing how “the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children,” became a parent of adopted twins.

Harris spokesman Ammar Moussa said that “unlike Donald Trump and JD Vance, Vice President Harris understands that every single American has a stake in this country’s future.”

Biological children are not always an option, women remind Vance

Vance’s campaign is pointing to a different speech from the July 2021 in which he targeted the “childless left” but added a caveat: that “there are people, of course, for biological reasons, medical reasons that can’t have children. The target of these remarks is not them.”

Yet many women are reminding Vance that there are plenty of reasons they may not have children.

“I truly can’t believe this is coming from a potential VP of The United States,” actress Jennifer Aniston wrote Wednesday, slamming Vance in an Instagram story. “Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day,” wrote the “Friends” star.

“I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too.” (While Trump has declared support for in vitro fertilization, Senate Republicans last month blocked consideration of a bill to protect IVF access – and the issue erupted in February when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are people and that a person could be liable for destroying them.)

Reproductive health issues, especially conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis can impact women’s ability to conceive and carry a pregnancy. Female fertility declines with age and lack of adequate health care services or child support services can also be factors influencing the decision to have a child.

Aniston has previously been candid about the challenges of trying to get pregnant – and has previously written about how “we don’t need to be married or mothers to be complete.”

‘The View” host Whoopi Goldberg also weighed in on the show Wednesday: “Sir, there are people who have chosen not to have children for whatever reason,” she said. “There are people who want to have children who cannot. How dare you. You never had a baby; your wife had a baby … you know nothing about this.”

Meghan McCain, talk show host and daughter of the late GOP senator John McCain of Arizona, posted on X that “I have been trying to warn every conservative man I know – these JD comments are activating women across all sides, including my most conservative Trump supporting friends.” The remarks “have caused real pain and are just innately unchristian. This is not who we are,” she said.

Buttigieg in a CNN interview, said Vance’s remarks came on the heels of their difficult journey to adoption. “He couldn’t have known that, but maybe that’s why you shouldn’t be talking about other people’s children,” Buttigieg said.

‘Childless cat ladies’ embracing the label

on social media

Vance, in his 2021 comments, called out “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.” Women online blasted the assumption that those who are without children are unhappy.

“I had absolutely no idea I was miserable,” actor Liz Vassey, known for her role on “CSI,” wrote on X. “Thank God there was a man around to tell me.”

Vance’s comments came as more Americans are choosing not to have children. A Pew Research Survey in 2021 found that the childless U.S. adults aged 18 to 49 who said they were unlikely to ever have children rose by 7 percentage points in the previous three years to 44% . About 56 % said they did not want children, 19 % stated a medical reason for not having kids, and financial reasons stopped another 17% from becoming a parent.

As some on social media put it: Childless cat ladies vote, too – and some, even, are cultural icons. “It’s bold, for someone seeking votes, to hone in on ‘childless cat ladies’ when the leader of Childless Cat Ladies is TAYLOR SWIFT,” author Caitlin Moran posted. Swift, 34, has three cats and has described them as some of her biggest influences.

Sure enough, Swifties were entering the chat in droves. One TikToker added Swift’s Time cover to the soundtrack of “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”

Another posted a video of Swift riding a giant rendering of her cat Olivia dressed as a unicorn, with the text: “Childless cat ladies riding to polls in November to vote for Harris.”

Legal fellow and Lawfare correspondent Anna Bower pointed out on X: “hell hath no fury like a certain childless cat lady who has yet to endorse a presidential candidate.”