In newly resurfaced 2021 comments, Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance attacked teachers who don’t have children.
In the resurfaced video, Vance, speaking at a forum hosted by the Center for Christian Virtue, is heard blaming “leaders on the left” and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten for not having children.
“A lot of leaders on the left don’t want to get too personal, but they’re childless people trying to brainwash the minds of children, and that really troubles me and worries me,” Vance says in the video.
“Randi Weingarten, head of the most powerful teachers union in the country, doesn’t have any children. If she wants to brainwash and destroy the minds of children, she should have some herself and leave ours alone.”
In a post on X, Weingarten responded to Vance’s resurfaced comments, calling them “horrible,” adding that the remarks were “sad and insulting to millions of modern families and school teachers, including Catholic nuns, who should not be attacked for their decisions regarding their families.”
Weingarten, whose union endorsed Kamala Harris for president in July, added: “Teachers who are now in school reopening mode are helping other people’s children every day. Teachers should be celebrated, not criticized, for their good service to our communities.”
The comment resurfaced on social media this week and has already spread online, with Kamala Harris’ campaign also sharing a video of the remarks online on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Vance did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in a statement to NBC News on Tuesday, Vance spokesman Taylor Van Kirk said the Ohio senator “will continue to speak out and condemn this outrageous act to protect children.”
“There is no greater threat to American children than the left-wing ideology being promoted in our schools by extremists like Randi Weingarten, who are backed by Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,” Van Kirk added.
The newly resurfaced comments come just weeks after Vance came under fire when a video resurfaced in 2021 in which he called leading Democrats a “bunch of childless pussy women” after former President Donald Trump selected him as his running mate for vice president in 2024. The comments drew outrage and were quickly condemned by many Democrats, as well as celebrities and some Republicans.
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Vance claims that the “childless cat-loving woman” comment was merely a “sarcastic remark.”
In further resurfaced footage, Vance is heard saying that people without children should pay higher taxes and that people with children should be given more voting rights than those without children.
