Trump’s Running Mate Criticizes AOC’s Family Views in 2021 Speech to Catholic Group
In a 2021 speech to a Catholic group, JD Vance attacked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), claiming she has a “sociopathic attitude” towards families and children. At the time, Vance was campaigning for the US Senate seat in Ohio, which he would win the following year.
During his speech to the Napa Institute, a Catholic organization promoting the “re-evangelization of the United States,” Vance singled out AOC, saying, “One of the politicians that I criticized is AOC. Maybe AOC hasn’t found the right person, whatever the case may be. AOC has said basically—if you look at her public remarks on this—that it’s immoral to have children because of climate change concerns. Right? This is, let’s just be direct, a sociopathic attitude towards family.”
Vance’s comments were part of a broader attack on political figures without children, a controversial talking point for Vance, who recently labeled opponents like Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, as “childless cat ladies.” Vance has endured backlash over his remarks about family and women’s issues since being selected as Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate.
Mother Jones first reported a video of Vance’s attack, highlighting that AOC never explicitly stated that having children is immoral. In 2019, AOC did say, “It is basically a scientific consensus that the lives of our children are going to be very difficult [because of climate change] and it does lead young people to have a legitimate question: is it OK to still have children?”
During his 2021 speech, Vance emphasized his pro-family stance: “My basic view is that if the Republican party, the conservative movement stands for anything … the number one thing we should be is pro-babies and pro-families.” He warned of a “civilizational crisis” stemming from unhappy families and a decline in birth rates, asserting that “so many of the most miserable and unhappy people in our media and in our public life are people without kids.”
Vance claimed that people have been trained to “chase credentials, to chase degrees, to chase money, when the thing that is ultimately going to give you the most fulfillment in life is your family.” He clarified he wasn’t aiming to criticize every individual without children but to call out what he perceives as an “anti-child and anti-family” political movement from the left.
“What does it say about our civilization that so many of our leaders don’t have kids?” Vance continued. “What does it say about the incentives that are built into the Democrats’ entire movement that they reward the young people who don’t have families instead of the young people who do? I think it’s just pretty sick … and it suggests something pretty broken.”
Ocasio-Cortez has not yet responded to Vance’s remarks. However, Mother Jones referenced a recent social media post by AOC in response to criticism from Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy regarding attacks on Vance and Trump for their views on women, families, and children. “Being obsessed with repressing women is goofy,” AOC stated. “Trying to watch what LGBTQ+ people do all the time is abnormal. Punishing people who don’t have biological offspring is creepy … it’s SUPER weird. And people need to know.”
