This is an adapted excerpt from the Aug. 28 episode of “Morning Joe.”
Sen. JD Vance of Ohio is making headlines yet again after another one of his rants about childless women resurfaced. This time, Donald Trump’s running mate turned his ire to educators — attacking Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers, during a Center for Christian Virtue leadership forum in 2021:
“So many of the leaders of the left — and I hate to be so personal about this — but they’re people without kids trying to brainwash the minds of our children and that really disorients me and it really concerns me. Randi Weingarten, who’s the head of the most powerful teachers union in the country, she doesn’t have a single child. If she wants to brainwash and destroy the minds of children, she should have some of her own and leave ours the hell alone.”
Let me just say, as a person who has not birthed a child from my own womb, I take grave offense to these comments. I don’t know what children Vance himself has birthed — it’s my understanding that it was his wife who had the children — but it seems the senator just can’t help himself from opening his mouth and disparaging large swaths of the American public. Most Americans probably don’t agree with the idea that if you don’t have children, you don’t have a stake in this country’s future.
Obviously, this isn’t the first time Vance has attacked women without biological children and every time another one of these rants is unearthed, further damage is done to the Trump-Vance ticket.
Every time another one of these rants is unearthed, further damage is done to the Trump-Vance ticket. This all goes back to the importance of vetting in a presidential campaign. I recently spoke to former Attorney General Eric Holder, who ran the vetting process for the Harris-Walz campaign. During that conversation, I asked him if he was sure his team got everything and that no stone was left unturned. Holder told me he combed through the internet and watched hours of videos of the top contenders. So, I just have to wonder: What was the vetting process like for Vance? Because this is simply insane. Join Symone Sanders-Townsend, Rachel Maddow and many others on Saturday, Sept. 7, in Brooklyn, New York, for “MSNBC Live: Democracy 2024,” a first-of-its-kind live event. You’ll get to see your favorite hosts in person and hear thought-provoking conversations about what matters most in the final weeks of an unprecedented election cycle. Buy tickets here.
Symone D. Sanders Townsend is an author and a co-host of "The Weeknight."
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. Recommended
