The Republican vice-presidential nominee, JD Vance, claimed that calling leading Democrats "a bunch of childless cat ladies" was merely a "sarcastic remark", as he attempted to deflect charges of misogyny and redirect fire at Harris's own running mate, Tim Walz, on Tuesday.
"The media wants to get offended about a sarcastic remark I made before I even ran for the United States Senate," the Ohio senator and Republican vice-presidential nominee told reporters in Philadelphia.
In response, a spokesperson for Harris said Vance and Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, were "not pro-family, they are anti-women", adding: "Women are paying attention - and will use their power at the polls."
Vance was in Philadelphia in direct opposition to Harris and Walz, as the vice-president and the Minnesota governor prepared to host their first joint rally in the Pennsylvania city.
Calling Walz "a joke" and "one of the most far-left radicals in the entire United States government at any level", Vance accused the governor of "wanting to ship more manufacturing jobs to China" and of being weak in the face of protests for racial justice in Minneapolis in summer 2020.
Nonetheless, Vance continued to face questions about his "childless cat ladies" comment, in which he named Harris.
Speaking in 2021 to the then Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Vance called senior Democrats in Congress and the Biden administration "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.
"It's just a basic fact - you look at Kamala Harris, [transportation secretary] Pete Buttigieg, AOC [congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] - the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. 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?"
Harris is stepmother to two children. In 2021, Buttigieg adopted two children with his husband, Chasten. Ocasio-Cortez does not have children.
Vance's remarks - and other controversial statements - resurfaced after Trump picked him as his running mate last month.
Democrats, and outside voices including the actor Jennifer Aniston, have branded the "childless cat ladies" comments as offensive. Polling shows the public agrees. On Tuesday a University of Massachusetts Amherst poll showed 64% of respondents saying they disapproved of the statement that not having biological children hindered Harris's ability to be president. Only 15% of Republicans approved.
Vance addressed the "childless cat ladies" controversy a day after his wife, Usha Vance, the mother of his three children, claimed the comment was merely a "quip".
She did not mention that JD Vance recently helped block a bill to establish the right to in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), treatment that helps millions who might otherwise not have children.
In Philadelphia, the "childless cat ladies" comment was brought up towards the end of an event in which Vance repeatedly disparaged the media.
He told a reporter: "Now, you asked about the remarks that I made that you said were offensive to millions of women. Well, here's what I'd say - "
A woman in the audience shouted: "This cat lady loves you."
"Thank you, ma'am," Vance said, amid cheers, adding: "We love you too."
He continued: "What I said is very simple. I think American families are good and government policy should be more pro-family. Now if the media wants to get offended about a sarcastic remark I made before I even ran for the United States Senate, then the media is entitled to get offended."
He then reeled off reasons he said he was offended by Harris, from her role in immigration and border policy to her not having given any interviews since becoming the Democratic nominee.
Contacted for comment, Sarafina Chitika, a Harris campaign spokesperson, told the Guardian: "This might come as a surprise to Vance and Trump, but women don't appreciate their personal choices and freedoms being attacked by politicians butting into their bedrooms and doctor's offices, trying to tell them if and when to have kids.
"It's particularly weird from the same man who voted against protections for IVF and called universal daycare 'class war against normal people'.
"Vance's comments make it clear: he and Donald Trump are not pro-family, they are anti-women. Women are paying attention - and will use their power at the polls to elect Vice-President Harris this November."
