Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Usha Vance downplayed her husband\u2019s past comments about unmarried, childless women as a \u201cquip\u201d that opponents have taken out of context, defending him amid criticism that has surged since his nomination to be the Republican vice presidential candidate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is, he made a quip in service of making a point that he wanted to make that was substantive,\u201d Usha Vance said in a \u201cFox & Friends\u201d interview about her husband, Ohio Sen. JD Vance<\/a>, on Monday. \u201cAnd I just wish sometimes that people would talk about those things and that we would spend a lot less time just sort of going through this three-word phrase or that three-word phrase.\u201d<\/p>\n Since joining former President Donald Trump\u2019s ticket, JD Vance has come under significant public scrutiny<\/a> over resurfaced comments \u2014 including a clip of him suggesting parents should have more political power than Americans without children and calling Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats \u201cchildless cat ladies.\u201d<\/p>\n Usha Vance argued that her husband had intended to discuss the challenges of being a parent in the U.S. and how policies may make it more difficult for parents to succeed. \u201cThat\u2019s the conversation that I really think that we should have, and I understand why he was saying that,\u201d Usha Vance said.<\/p>\n JD Vance, for his part, has done little to distance himself from his past comments. In a SiriusXM interview with conservative media personality Megyn Kelly, the senator worked to explain<\/a> that his \u201csarcastic comment\u201d was not criticizing people who do not have children but instead going after Democrats for advocating for policies he described as \u201canti-family.\u201d He doubled down that \u201cthe substance of what I said, Megyn, I\u2019m sorry, it is true,\u201d adding he has \u201cnothing against cats.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about what she would say to women offended by JD Vance\u2019s comments, Usha Vance insisted her husband would never speak negatively about someone who was trying to have a family. She said it was not something \u201canyone would want to mock or make fun of\u201d and acknowledged the \u201cvery good\u201d reasons some people decide not to have children.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what I would say is let\u2019s try to look at the real conversation that he\u2019s trying to have and engage with it and understand for those of us who do have families, for the many of us who want to have families and for whom it\u2019s really hard, what can we do to make it better? What can we do to make it easier to live in 2024?\u201d Usha Vance said.<\/p>\n JD Vance joined Senate Republicans in blocking a Democrat-backed bill<\/a> to protect IVF in June but supported legislation reaffirming nationwide access to IVF co-sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz<\/a> (R-Texas) and Katie Britt<\/a> (R-Ala.). The Republicans\u2019 bill would cut off Medicaid funding to any state that bans IVF, while the Democrats\u2019 bill would codify access to fertility treatments like IVF.<\/p>\n