August 9, 2024
On conflating strength with refusing to admit weakness...
Donald Trump gave a press conference at Mar-a-Lago yesterday, presumably in part to steal the spotlight away from Kamala Harris. To be honest, I’d already chosen a column for today and was prepared to throw it out, but nothing Trump said struck me as newsworthy enough to change my plans. Readers across the political spectrum might disagree with that choice and I understand (if a major party nominee holds a press conference, it should be covered; if Trump says something wild, it should be noted), but for me yesterday felt like an attempt at distraction more than anything, and so I’m going to stick with the column I chose. I’ve linked to the press conference here and above, though, if you want to watch it.
Speaking of distractions, a few weeks ago that’s how I would have described JD Vance’s “childless cat lady” comments (it’s still how I’d describe the couch absurdity, which is puerile, nonsensical, and beneath even our current discourse lows). Vance has clarified somewhat, saying, “This is not about criticizing people who for various reasons don’t have kids.” And he’s tried to put his comments in context, saying he meant Democratic policies were anti-family and anti-child, which is a common Republican talking point.
But this story isn’t going anywhere, and it’s not because Democrats keep bringing it up. It’s because Vance refuses to own up to — and back down from — a wider position he’s taken time and time again. The “childless cat lady” bit may have caught on the most with the media, but part of what kicked this whole thing off was video of Vance saying:
When you go to the polls in this country as a parent, you should have more power, you should have more of an ability to speak your voice in our democratic republic than people who don’t have kids. Let’s face the consequences and the reality. If you don’t have as much of an investment in the future of this country, maybe you shouldn’t get nearly the same voice.
Now, people will say — and I’m sure The Atlantic and The Washington Post and all the usual suspects will criticize me about this in the coming days — “Well, doesn’t this mean that non-parents don’t have as much of a voice as parents? Doesn’t this mean that parents get a bigger say in how our democracy functions?” Yes. Absolutely.
Nowhere in that statement is a mention of Democratic leadership. It’s about voters. There’s simply no way around that.
After the 2020 election, he also said as a follow-up to a comment about childless Democratic leaders, “You know, I worry that [being childless] makes people more sociopathic and ultimately our whole country a little bit less… less mentally stable.” As I said, this quote followed a mention of childless Democrats. Even in context, though, he’s also saying he believes not having kids could make a person sociopathic.
Vance hasn’t seriously addressed these comments. He could. He should. It can’t be that hard to say, “I don’t know what I was thinking. That was unnecessary.” For one thing, it’s the truth. For another, it might help this go away.
But Vance won’t back down. My guess is he thinks refusing to admit his mistake is a sign of strength. It’s not. Most adults know that.
Even childless ones.