Vice President JD Vance is walking back one of his most controversial statements, calling his 2021 attack on childless Democrats "boneheaded" and "one of the dumbest things I ever said" in his forthcoming memoir.
In "Communion," set to release Tuesday, Vance reflects on the remark he made while appearing on Tucker Carlson's Fox News show when he was running for a Senate seat in Ohio. At the time, he described Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats without children as people "who want to make the rest of the country miserable too."
"The comment caused two firestorms: the first when I made it, the second years later during a political campaign," Vance writes in the book, obtained by NBC News. "It was a boneheaded comment, intentionally (and successfully) provocative rather than illuminating."
The remark nearly derailed his emergence as Donald Trump's running mate in 2024. When the comment resurfaced months later, Vance defended it, telling NBC News' "Meet the Press" in August that making the joke "three years ago is not at the top 10" of his regrets. He refused to apologize at that time.
His new book tells a different story. Vance acknowledges the comment was "enraging" and prevented him from making a more substantive point about American attitudes toward parenthood. "I could have made that point much more effectively, and with the benefit of showing a little charity to the many Americans who,some for reasons beyond their control,don't have children," he writes.
The admission arrives in a chapter discussing his meeting with Pope Francis and Christian teachings on dignity. Vance frames his reflection around a broader lesson about faith in public life. "And that brings me to another lesson of the faith for Christian statesmen," he writes. "It's okay to admit error."
Harris, it should be noted, has two stepchildren. The broader context of Vance's reflection appears to address how his initial framing failed to account for people in different circumstances. "When I consider the Church's admonition to respect the dignity of every life, this was a clear moment where I failed," he concludes.
The memoir, a follow-up to his 2016 bestseller "Hillbilly Elegy," also delves into Vance's spiritual journey from Protestant to atheist to Catholic convert. Throughout "Communion," Vance addresses the tension between his political positions and Christian charity, particularly on contentious issues like abortion.
On that subject, Vance argues that the pro-life movement needs a softer approach to win back Americans after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. He cites his opposition to a 2023 Ohio ballot measure that codified abortion rights into state law. The referendum passed overwhelmingly. "If your political argument on the abortion question,or any other,fails to persuade your fellow Americans, you have to make a better argument," he writes.
He describes knowing women who had abortions "out of a fear that they had no other choice," fearing an unexpected pregnancy would harm their careers and relationships. Vance suggests the pro-life movement's messaging contributed to losing Ohio voters. "That's why we lost the Ohio referendum, but it's also how we'll start winning people over: by reflecting Christian charity in the way we champion the unborn," he writes.
Second lady Usha Vance plays a prominent role in "Communion." The vice president dedicates the book to her and describes his Hindu wife as crucial to his return to Christian faith. "There is at least a little irony in the fact that my non-Christian wife helped lead me back to my own Christian faith, and then made it possible for me to discuss the journey on paper," he writes in the acknowledgements.
In the epilogue, Vance recounts how his wife supported Erika Kirk, widow of his friend Charlie Kirk, after Kirk's assassination. He notes that Kirk's widow expressed regret about having only two children. The episode prompted a shift in Usha's perspective on family size. "But something changed for Usha, and not long after we buried my friend, she became pregnant with our fourth child, a boy," Vance writes. "One life was stolen from us, but another was given."
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Vance's sudden contrition rings hollow when measured against his public stubbornness just months earlier, but the memoir does reveal a vice president grappling with the gap between partisan rhetoric and Christian witness."
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