In her Sunday interview with CBS News, Nikki Haley said JD Vance’s 2021 comments on childless women leaders were “not helpful” and told the GOP, broadly, to “stop it” with the insults and bring the election back to policy.
Here’s the relevant part of the transcript, via CBS News:
MARGARET BRENNAN: So we know that since Vice President Harris entered the race, the gap among women voters has grown to a now double-digit lead for her over Donald Trump, according to our CBS most recent survey. So how do they close that? Because just as recently as last week, JD Vance said he’s disoriented and disturbed that the head of the most powerful teachers’ union in the country doesn’t have a single child. He continues to say things that certainly are highlighted as being offensive to women. That is going to hurt, won’t it, with female voters?
AMB. NIKKI HALEY: It’s not helpful. It’s not helpful. I mean–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Is he an- an effective messenger for the policies you say they are stronger on?
AMB. NIKKI HALEY: I think that the policy- look, you can either look at style or you can look at substance. I choose as a voter to look at substance….. The substance is cutting taxes, making housing more affordable, immigration, national security, that’s the substance. The style is- no, it is not helpful to talk about whether women have children or whether they don’t. It’s not helpful to say any of those things that are personality driven or anything else. I have- I have said that, and I will continue to say to Republicans, stop it. That’s not helpful. You know, if you want to talk about things, stick with policy.
Americans are smart. They don’t need all of this other noise to distract them. They just want to know how you’re going to help them. And they’re- you know, what I would suggest to every American, look at the records of each of them. We had an administration of each of them. We had a Harris administration, we had a Trump administration. And then look at what they say to us now, and make your decisions off of that. And I think when you look at that, you- you’ve got some stark contrast there.
2028 implications: That’s not going to endear her to the MAGA elements she would need in 2028, but three things to remember.
First, Haley’s comments were coupled with a vigorous defense of Donald Trump’s agenda.
Second, it’s possible (probable) that Trump also cringed at the electoral implications of Vance’s comments on women, though reporting on whether he regrets his pick and Vance’s style is mixed.
Third, if Trump loses, suddenly Vance becomes a front-runner for 2028 and if (when) Haley runs, she’ll probably remind voters – in one way or another – of all the ways Vance became the most unpopular vice presidential pick in history.
Oh, a fourth: If you want a good read on the “childless cat lady” trope, here’s a deep dive from NPR, which traces it back to a Victorian Era trope and how the anti-suffragist movement used the image to try to keep women from gaining the right to vote.
Video via CBS.
