Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance’s past remarks on Americans who opt not to have children have struck a nerve during a tense presidential election season.
Unearthed and popularized by his opponents, Vance’s 2021 castigation of Democratic Party leaders as “childless cat ladies” has created a firestorm.
In that interview three years ago with Tucker Carlson, Vance took his position a step further, questioning whether those forgoing parenthood should enjoy the same status as those who procreate.
Since his selection as former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Vance has been given several opportunities to clarify matters. He’s chosen mainly to double down, ascribing any number of societal ills to America’s historically low birth rate.
The quotes rightly are viewed as insulting to those who for any number of reasons, ranging from infertility to simple personal preference, don’t procreate. But Vance isn’t wrong to draw attention to a U.S. birth rate that last year fell to 1.62 births per woman, the lowest since the U.S. began keeping records in the 1930s, according to The Wall Street Journal, and well below the rate of 2.1 needed to keep the nation’s population stable.