Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg delivered a blistering response to Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio), recently named as former President Trump’s running mate, for his derogatory remarks targeting Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic leaders without children.
“The really sad thing is, he said that after Chasten [Buttigieg] and I had been through a fairly heartbreaking setback in our adoption journey,” Buttigieg told CNN host Kaitlan Collins in the interview with “The Source.”
“He couldn’t have known that, but maybe that’s why you shouldn’t be talking about other people’s children,” he added.
“The callousness of his remarks, made without understanding our painful journey, underscores his lack of empathy and judgment,” Buttigieg asserted.
In a recently surfaced clip from 2021, Vance singled out Harris, Buttigieg, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, insinuating that their lack of biological children disqualifies them from shaping America’s future.
During an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s former Fox News program, Vance characterized them as “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”
“Look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children,” Vance asserted. “How does it make any sense we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?”
Harris has two stepchildren, Cole and Ella Emhoff, by way of her husband first gentleman Doug Emhoff.
Buttigieg condemned Vance’s stance, emphasizing that leadership transcends familial status.
“It’s not about his kids, or my kids, or the vice president’s family,” Buttigieg stated pointedly. “It’s about your family, people’s families whose wellbeing will depend on whether we go into a future led by somebody like Kamala Harris who is focused on expanding the prosperity, the freedom, the wellbeing of our families.”
Buttigieg’s forceful rebuttal sets the tone against attempts to undermine Harris’ leadership based on outdated and discriminatory views and contrasts sharply with Vance’s divisive rhetoric.
Watch the interview below from CNN.
Pete Buttigieg on JD Vance’s past comments: “The really sad thing is he said that after Chasten & I had been through a fairly heartbreaking setback in our adoption journey. He couldn't have known that, but maybe that's why you shouldn't be talking about other people’s children.” pic.twitter.com/Z7mcpu9zkf
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 24, 2024
