JD Vance’s comments about women have been repeatedly targeted by Democrats, from his “childless cat ladies” remark to quotes implying that professional women choose “a path to misery” when they prioritize careers over having children.
On Tuesday evening, Vance will go head-to-head with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in the vice presidential debate, hosted by CBS. It will be the last debate that the presidential campaigns have agreed to before Election Day.
Both campaigns have been steadily sharing disparaging comments about the other side’s candidate ahead of the debate, with the Harris campaign releasing audio saying Vance thinks the purpose of postmenopausal women is to raise grandchildren.
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The Claim
A Monday post by Harris’ campaign account on X (formerly Twitter), which has been viewed 497,000 times, said: “Unearthed audio: JD Vance says he agrees that ‘the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female’ is to help raise grandchildren.”
The post included audio of Vance saying: “And you can sort of see the effect it has on him to be around them. Like they spoil him, there’s sort of all the classic stuff that grandparents do to grandchildren, but it makes him a much better human being to have exposure to his grandparents, and the evidence on this by the way is, like, super clear.”
Another person says: “That’s the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female in theory,” to which Vance replies, “Yes.”
The Facts
This claim made by the Harris campaign raises a question about what Vance meant, rather than being indisputable fact. It is not clear from the audio whether Vance was replying in agreement with the “whole purpose of the postmenopausal female” remark.
The clip was taken from a 2020 episode of the podcast The Portal, hosted by Eric Weinstein, during which Vance discussed the benefits of grandparents interacting with grandchildren.
In the clip shared by the Harris campaign, Vance replies “yes” before Weinstein finishes his sentence, at about the moment that Weinstein says postmenopausal.
This suggests that Vance may not have understood the whole sentence or was replying in agreement with how he thought the sentence was going to finish. That was the argument made by his representatives when the clip was shared online earlier this year.
Vance spokeswoman Taylor Van Kirk told Newsweek in August that Vance was reacting to the first part of Weinstein’s statement, believing that Weinstein was going to say something different.
“Of course he does not agree with what the host said,” she said. “JD reacted to the first part of the host’s sentence, assuming he was going to say, ‘That’s the whole purpose of spending time with grandparents.'”
Van Kirk continued: “It’s a disgrace that the media is lying about JD instead of holding Kamala Harris accountable for her policies that caused sky-high prices for groceries and everyday necessities, a disaster at the southern border and a historic drug overdose epidemic.”
On the other hand, Vance did not argue with Weinstein’s point, despite the clarity of the host’s comments and the specificity of the term “postmenopausal female.”
While many criticized Vance over the recording, it’s not entirely clear whether at that moment he was offering full-throated support for Weinstein’s comments or was agreeing about something else, thinking Weinstein was making another point. In any case, it’s an argument rather than an indisputable fact that the Harris campaign has shared.
Newsweek has contacted representatives for Harris and Vance via email for comment.
The Ruling
Needs Context
The clip is not indisputable evidence that Vance was agreeing with the claim that the “whole purpose…in theory” of postmenopausal women is to raise grandchildren. He interjected a remark of agreement as the podcast host Eric Weinstein was making the argument.
Vance’s spokespeople have said he was agreeing in anticipation of Weinstein saying something else and did not agree with what the host actually said. However, Vance did not clarify what he was agreeing to or challenge the statement at that moment.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team
