On Tuesday's The Source, CNN host Kaitlan Collins continued the media's hyping of J.D. Vance's "childless cat ladies" comments by bringing on the GOP vice presidential candidate's former roommate at Yale who is now a Democrat state legislator to trash him as coming from a "dark" and "creepy" place. This is the danger of a Republican going to Yale -- most of your roommates are going to be leftists.
The CNN host introduced a clip of Vance from an interview on The Chris Buskirk Show a few years ago in which he argued that becoming a parent improves one's character, and that people who are "sociopathic" are more likely to be without children, not that all childless people are sociopathic. Setting up the segment, the clip of Vance was played:
There's just these basic cadences of life that I think are very powerful and really valuable when you have kids in our life. And the fact that so many people, especially in America's leadership class, just don't have that in their lives. You know, I worry that it makes people more sociopathic, and, ultimately, our whole country a little bit less -- less mentally stable. And, of course, you talk about going on Twitter -- a final point I'll make is you go on Twitter, and almost always the people who are most deranged and most psychotic are people who don't have kids at home.
Collins then went to her Democrat guest, Georgia State Senator Josh McLaurin, and posed: "When you hear what Vance -- Senator Vance of Ohio just said there, calling Americans 'sociopathic,' suggesting that they're mentally unstable. What do you make of these new comments that we've uncovered?"
Senator Vance's former roommate trashed the comments as coming from a "dark" and "creepy" place as he responded:
And it obviously comes from somewhere sort of dark, sort creepy. I mean, Democrats are saying "weird" -- we're not talking about indie music. We're saying that this ticket -- the Republican ticket -- Trump and Vance -- are obviously committed to some sort of agenda not only just for their families, but for other people's families. And that's what's scary, is that they want to impose that agenda on other people.
Collins clearly loved this spin, as she followed up:
I think people who are watching this and clearly hear that you are supporting Vice President Harris -- you were at that rally in Georgia tonight -- but they're curious about your background, your history with J.D. Vance before he was Senator J.D. Vance. I mean, when this was all beginning to be uncovered, were you surprised by this? Or do you remember him ever talking about this before?
McLaurin recalled that he had leaked to the media some of his personal correspondence with Vance several years ago: "Well, you know, I'm the one who published the 'America's Hitler' text, right -- he wrote to me in 2016 that he feared that Trump might be America's Hitler. So, obviously, it's a huge flip-flop for him now years later to be Trump's biggest cheerleader on the national stage."
He went on to twice claim that Senator Vance has "contempt for women." It sounded like he could have been the opposition researcher pushing these remarks:
McLAURIN: By 2021 when I heard him make that "childless cat ladies" comment for the first time, I mean, I was kind of shocked because, I mean, for one thing, I was shocked that somebody who apparently had political aspirations would want to insult millions of Americans who, you know, if you're running for U.S. Senate or especially the stage he's on now, you just can't afford to be -- to have that much contempt for everyday people.
Transcript follows:
CNN's The Source
July 30, 2024
9:47 p.m. Eastern
KAITLAN COLLINS: In battleground Nevada tonight, Donald Trump's pick for Vice President, J.D. Vance, making no mention of the uproar that has surrounded the comments that he made in the past deriding "childless cat ladies" who are in government. It comes as CNN's Kfile tonight has uncovered more examples of Vance disparaging Americans who don't have children. Here's one of those.
J.D. VANCE: There's just these basic cadences of life that I think are very powerful and really valuable when you have kids in our life. And the fact that so many people, especially in America's leadership class, just don't have that in their lives. You know, I worry that it makes people more sociopathic, and, ultimately, our whole country a little bit less -- less mentally stable. And, of course, you talk about going on Twitter -- a final point I'll make is you go on Twitter, and almost always the people who are most deranged and most psychotic are people who don't have kids at home.
COLLINS: My source tonight is Josh McLaurin, who was J.D. Vance's Yale roommate, and is now a Democratic state senator in Georgia. It's great to have you here. You know, when you hear what Vance -- Senator Vance of Ohio just said there calling Americans "sociopathic," suggesting that they're mentally unstable. What do you make of these new comments that we've uncovered?
STATE SENATOR JOSH McLAURIN (D-GA): Well, first of all, hi, it's great to join you, Kaitlan. And, as a preface to my answer, I just came from the Kamala Harris rally in Atlanta where the vibes are excellent. So this is kind of a plunge into a different reality when you start talking about where the top of the Republican ticket is. The vibes are very different. Obviously, the "childless cat ladies" comment from 2021 has resonated -- echoed across the country -- women from both parties and even, you know, Jennifer Aniston has been outraged, right, about his comments. And it seems like it's not just a one-off thing. As you pointed out, this is some sort of a fixation where he is apparently very angry and committed to this theory about leadership or about his political opposition. And it obviously comes from somewhere sort of dark, sort creepy. I mean, Democrats are saying "weird" -- we're not talking about indie music. We're saying that this ticket -- the Republican ticket -- Trump and Vance -- are obviously committed to some sort of agenda not only just for their families, but for other people's families. And that's what's scary, is that they want to impose that agenda on other people.
COLLINS: I think people who are watching this and clearly hear that you are supporting Vice President Harris -- you were at that rally in Georgia tonight -- but they're curious about your background, your history with J.D. Vance before he was Senator J.D. Vance. I mean, when this was all beginning to be uncovered, were you surprised by this? Or do you remember him ever talking about this before?
McLAURIN: Well, you know, I'm the one who published the "America's Hitler" text, right -- he wrote to me in 2016 that he feared that Trump might be America's Hitler. So, obviously, it's a huge flipflop for him now years later to be Trump's biggest cheerleader on the national stage. I reached out to him in 2016 because we were friendly at the end of law school and after. We graduated in 2013, 2014 -- I graduated a year later. But in 2016 I thought I had an ally in him even though because I was a Democrat and he was a Republican, I think we both found Trump to be appalling at that time -- really scary. And so we reached -- I reached out to him, and I asked for his thoughts on Trump, and he was very thorough and incisive.
He told me that Trump was the fruit of the Republican party's collective neglect -- that a demagogue would come along and exploit that failure. I mean, that's very sophisticated analysis that still holds true today. So, I mean, I wasn't ready for the big flipflop that he made years later. I know it was gradual, but by 2021 when I heard him make that "childless cat ladies" comment for the first time, I mean, I was kind of shocked because, I mean, for one thing, I was shocked that somebody who apparently had political aspirations would want to insult millions of Americans who, you know, if you're running for U.S. Senate or especially the stage he's on now, you just can't afford to be -- to have that much contempt for everyday people. And so, you know, it's one thing that Democrats have to do is stay focused on everyday people, the issues that really matter to them, you know, the economy, reproductive rights, and not get distracted the way that Republicans are by these sort of weird cultural wars.
COLLINS: Well, and we heard from Vance's team after K-File [CNN's Andrew Kaczynski] was publishing this report on these other instances where, you know, he was fundraising off of what he said in 2021, and, you know, repeating what he said about childless sociopaths and saying, "Our childless opponents have a lot of free time on their hands."
When they were asked for comment to that, a spokesperson said, "As Vance has clearly stated, he was talking about politicians on the left who support policies that are explicitly anti-child and anti-family. The media can obsess over it all they want, but he's not going to back down when it comes to advocating for policies to protect parental rights and encourage people to have more kids."
When you hear that, and when you hear what Senator Vance says about his views on Trump now being changed because he watched him in office, do you think that that's genuine?
McLAURIN: I think voters are smarter than that. I mean, it's the Democrats who are pushing for an expanded child tax credit to cut poverty in half in the country. You know, this attempt to pivot away from the raw personal feelings of Trump and Vance is going to fail, I think, because it's obvious with such a fixation repeatedly in multiple media appearances in a way that's filled with contempt, right? This is not just some sort of dry policy discussion that Republicans are trying to have with people about kids. No, this is some sort of weird projection.
And, again, it doesn't really matter what the exact source of the trauma or the psychology is of it -- I think people are aware that, whatever the case may be, Trump and Vance want them not to have reproductive rights, push for a national abortion ban, and maybe even without the use of Congress -- yu know, that's what Project 2025 mentions -- and tell people basically whether they can plan for the family the way that they want or not. I mean, Project 2025 includes restrictions on birth control. So, again, it's not just about abortion, and it's not just about these dry policy issues. There is an agenda where these leaders atop of this ticket have some sort of contempt for women, and are apparently not afraid to show it to millions of Americans.
COLLINS: Obviously, we've seen the pushback from Vance's team on that. State Senator Josh McLaurin, thank you for joining us sharing that perspective.
