In an unexpected clash of American personalities, Oprah went after Ohio Senator J.D. Vance at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night, cutting the Republican vice presidential pick down to size for his disturbing, sexist beliefs.
“Despite what some would have you think, we are not so different from our neighbors,” Oprah said. “When a house is on fire, we don’t ask about the homeowner’s race or religion. We don’t wonder who their partner is or how they voted. No, we just try to do the best we can to save them.”
“And if the place happens to belong to a ‘childless cat lady,’ well, we try to get that cat out, too,” she added to wild screams from the crowd.
Oprah: When a house is on fire, we do not ask about the homeowners race or religion. We just try to do the best we can to save them. And if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady. We try to get the cat out, too. pic.twitter.com/Oms9vO3d5c
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 22, 2024
The former daytime talk show host was referring to a 2021 interview in which Vance argued that childless Americans don’t have a “direct stake” in the future of the country, deriding Democratic Party leaders as “childless cat ladies.”
“It’s just a basic fact—you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC—the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children,” Vance told then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson. “And how does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?”
Voters didn’t react well to the misogynistic, divisive tone. A pair of polls conducted weeks apart by centrist Democratic pollster Blueprint indicated that Vance’s favorability had fallen from -7 to -11 by August 12. Approximately 50 percent of respondents said they were aware of Vance’s “childless cat ladies” comment, while 55 percent said they were bothered by it.
