US journalist Megyn Kelly has defended JD Vance, the Republican nominee for Vice President, and slammed actor Jennifer Aniston after she criticised his comments on childless women.
The controversy stems from a 2021 Fox News interview in which Vance stated that “childless cat ladies,” including politicians like Kamala Harris, the Democrat running for the White House, have no “direct stake” in the country.
The comment recently resurfaced, drawing a sharp rebuke from Aniston.
Aniston, who has been vocal about her struggles with infertility, responded to Vance's remarks by sharing a screenshot of the interview on Instagram. In her post, she mentioned Vance's 2-year-old daughter, saying she hopes the child will be able to have children of her own one day and won't need to rely on IVF, a service Vance has opposed in legislation. “I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option because you are trying to take that away from her, too,” the Friends star wrote.
Megyn Kelly, a former Fox News host, has now slammed the actress for her response.
“Well, now, all this s*** has run, has rained down on him like he hates women and he hates people who have no children, and that's not true,” Kelly said.
However, Vance's record suggests otherwise. In June, he voted against the Right to IVF Act, which would have protected the accessibility and affordability of IVF services across the US.
Kelly also accused the actress of being hypocritical for not speaking out against gender ideology and transgender issues.
She asked where Aniston was when it came to standing up for little girls who were "getting their breasts chopped off" for political purposes by people who were "shoving this gender ideology down their throats without figuring out that they might just be temporarily depressed" or being forced to compete against boys in high school sports, which left them "partially paralysed and permanent nerve damage."
Kelly further criticised Aniston for her selective activism, saying she was happy to see Aniston on board with women's rights but didn't see her actively engaged on these specific issues before.
JD Vance also responded to Aniston's criticism, calling her comments "disgusting". He pointed out his daughter was only two years old, and if she were to face fertility issues in the future, he “would try everything I could to try to help her because I believe families and babies are a good thing.”
Vance also clarified his previous “childless cat ladies” remark, explaining it was meant to be sarcastic and not taken literally. He said people were focusing on the tone rather than the substance of his argument and reiterated that his criticism was aimed at the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-child, not “about criticising people who, for various reasons, don't have kids."
