“Did that comment actually shed light on something and start a discussion? Or did it just close people down?” Vance asked on “The View.”

JD Vance addresses on The View controversial ‘childless cat ladies’ insult that Taylor Swift responded to: ‘Boneheaded’

"Did that comment actually shed light on something and start a discussion? Or did it just close people down?" Vance asked on "The View."

Joey Nolfi

Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes RuPaul’s Drag Race video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

EW's editorial guidelines

June 16, 2026 1:42 p.m. ET

Joy Behar asks JD Vance about 'childless cat ladies' on 'The View'. Credit:

- *The View* cohost Joy Behar asked JD Vance to explain his "childless cat ladies" insult.

- The initial comment even drew a response from Taylor Swift during the 2024 election cycle.

- Vance called the comment "boneheaded" during his interview on *The View*.

JD Vance apparently has some regret cat-scratching at the back of his mind over his controversial "childless cat ladies" insult that even drew a response from pop superstar Taylor Swift during the 2024 presidential election cycle.

During his Tuesday morning appearance on *The View*, the vice president addressed several topics related to government affairs as he sat alongside all six of the daytime talk show's cohosts, though Joy Behar pressed him on the widely derided "childless cat ladies" quip he made about left-leaning women years prior.

"You make a mea culpa of sorts for calling Democrats childless cat ladies," Behar said, referencing a passage from Vance's new book, *Communion*. Vance cut in to observe, "Oh, man. My most most boneheaded comment."

Behar continued, "You say in the book that it was boneheaded, which it was. What were you thinking when you said that?"

'The View' cohosts interview JD Vance.

Vance laughed and thanked Behar for calling it "boneheaded" as well, before offering an explanation.

"So, Joy said when we were off air that I'm fine, which I think is about the best endorsement that I'm going to get out of Joy Behar, for a Republican. Thank you. Graded on a curve here at *The View*!" he joked at the top of his response. "One of the things that I try to do, and all of us are always learning. [Sunny Hostin,] you said you were a lapsed Catholic, I'm a bad Catholic, that's why we need grace as Christians, is because we recognize that there are certain things we've got to work on."

He then reflected on the impact of the remark: "Did that comment actually shed light on something and start a discussion? Or did it just close people down? When I make a comment that just closes people down instead of trying to appreciate the point that I make, that's a mistake and that's on me to do better."

Whoopi Goldberg melts down, snaps on Ana Navarro during JD Vance's 'View' interview: 'Ana, God, please!'

Multiple 'View' studio audience members refused to clap for JD Vance as he walks out for interview

In 2024, the quip was already three years old, though it resurfaced after he was announced as Donald Trump's running mate: "We're effectively run in this country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made, so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too," he said in the 2021 clip.

Back on *The View*, Vance finished by telling Behar, "The point I'd say on that, Joy, is, I do think, in a very subtle, sometimes in a more profound way, I think our country has become more anti-family and more anti-child."

Other topics the cohosts covered with Vance in the multi-segment interview included the government's handling of ICE deportations and raids across the country, the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, and Sara Haines grilling Vance on his past comments about Trump and why, as she felt, the administration's treatment of migrants goes against Christian morals.

JD Vance on 'The View'.

During a July 2024 episode of *The View*, Goldberg previously criticized Vance's "childless cat ladies" comment on the air.

"Sir, there are people who have chosen not to have children for whatever reason. There are people who want to have children who cannot. How dare you. You never had a baby; your wife had a baby. But, you never had a baby, so you know nothing about this. How dare you. Women? You heard how he thinks of you. This is not good for you, JD. Now, what the hell?" Goldberg said at the time.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter*.**

Swift also referenced the comment in her endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 election cycle, sharing a photo of herself with her cat as she encouraged people to vote for the Democratic candidate.

*The View* airs weekdays on ABC.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Talk”