JD Vance said professional women choose “a path to misery” by prioritizing their careers over having children—and argued that men and boys were “suppressed,” in a resurfaced podcast from 2021.
“You have women who think that truly the liberationist path is to spend 90 hours a week working in a cubicle at McKinsey instead of starting a family and having children,” the GOP vice presidential nominee says in the audio clip. “What they don’t realize—and I think some of them do eventually realize that, thank God—is that that is actually a path to misery.”
Donald Trump’s running mate specifically referenced his female classmates at Yale Law School, who “are caught up in a rat race that… is making them really miserable.” Vance met his wife, Usha, while studying alongside her at the elite university.
The Ohio senator’s unearthed comments echoed his “childless cat lady” quip, which he recently claimed was “a joke” and had been uttered “sarcastically.” On Tuesday, Vance was also criticized for having said teachers without biological children “really disorients” and “really disturbs” him.
The podcast, which was posted to YouTube on Sept. 20, 2021, was produced by American Moment, a right-wing non-profit whose mission is to “identify, educate, and credential young Americans who will implement public policy that supports strong families, a sovereign nation, and prosperity for all.” The group is also an organizational partner for Project 2025, an initiative tied to The Heritage Foundation.
At the time of the episode’s release, Vance sat on the non-profit’s advisory board and was running for U.S. Senate. He is now listed as a “board members emeritus” on the American Moment website.
Vance also turned his attention to “suppressed” men and boys during the podcast, alleging that “we don’t talk enough about the fact that traditional masculine traits are now actively suppressed from childhood all the way through adulthood.”
The father of three said his son’s habit of fighting imaginary monsters was part of “something deeply cultural and biological, spiritual about this desire to defend his home and his family.”
“If the Chinese invade us in 10 years,” Vance mused, “they’re going to be beaten back by boys… who practice fighting the monsters who become proud men who defend their homes.”
“They’re not going to be defended by the soy boys who want to feed the monsters,” he added, using an insult intended to emasculate others.
