JD Vance slammed in home state newspaper: "Specter of a man" (2024)

Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance was criticized as a "specter of a man" in an opinion article published by a newspaper in his home state of Ohio.

In a "letter to the editor" published by The Columbus Dispatch, Joe Barmess wrote that Vance, a Republican Senator from Ohio, has "used celebrity and a total about-face" for his own "political gain," adding that he previously referred to himself as a "never Trump guy" and once called the former president "America's Hitler."

Barmess wrote that good presidents surround themselves with advisers who have the "wisdom and the backbone" to speak the truth, but warned that Donald Trump removed these figures in his last term in office and now is "surrounding himself with only 'yes-men' like Vance."

"If for any reason Trump cannot fulfill his duties as president, we have the specter of a man with little governmental experience, little leadership experience and no experience in foreign policy taking over," Barmess wrote.

"Can our democracy risk another Trump presidency, this time supported by a political neophyte 'yes-man,' whose only guiding principle is to flip-flop with the way the wind is blowing?"

Newsweek reached out to Vance's team for comment outside of typical working hours.

Another letter in the Dispatch criticizes Vance for his resurfaced remarks branding certain Democratic politicians as "childless cat ladies," which have sparked a wave of backlash in recent days.

Speaking to Fox News in 2021, Vance said: "We are 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, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.

"It's just a basic fact that if you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC [Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez], the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we've turned our country over to people who don't really have a direct stake in it?"

Responding to the remarks, Jon Armstrong wrote to the newspaper: "As the 'childless cat ladies' quip rattled around in my brain I started compiling a list of all the CCL's I've known in my life. I arbitrarily stopped at 35.

"The list includes a sibling, numerous cousins, many friends and former co-workers plus the No. 1 entertainer in the world. For the vast majority I would say their status is a choice and not the result of bad luck or some need to avoid being part of society. In fact, many on my list are teachers or in some cases social workers who I dare say have invested more time with kids than Mr. JD Vance."

He added: "Next time you try to rile up the base, Mr. Vance, you might consider a new tact."

Vance defended himself against the criticism he has received for his remarks, telling Megyn Kelly last week: "I know the media wants to attack me and wants me to back down on this, Megyn, but the simple point that I made is that having children, becoming a father, becoming a mother, I really do think it changes your perspective in a pretty profound way.

"It's not a criticism of people who don't have children. I explicitly said in my remarks, despite the fact the media has lied about this, that this is not about criticizing people who, for various reasons, didn't have kids. This is about criticizing the Democratic party for becoming anti-family and anti-child."

Vance was born in Middletown, Ohio, roughly 30 miles north of Cincinnati. His rise in the political sphere began after the release of his 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which focused on his experience growing up in white, working-class America. At the time, Trump was running for his first term in office, and Vance was vocal about his disdain for the former president.

By 2021, however, while running for Ohio's open Senate seat, Vance flipped his opinion on Trump and won his election with the former president's endorsem*nt.

Vance told a podcast in 2022 that he would "like abortion to be illegal nationwide," and was "sympathetic" to the implementation of a "federal response" to stop women travelling between states to obtain procedures. This contrasts with statements Vance made earlier this month backing Trump's view that abortion should be a state issue.

"My view is that Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party, and his views on abortion are going to be the views that dominate this party and drive this party forward," Vance told Fox News earlier this month. "Alabama's going to make a different decision from California. That is a reasonable thing. And that's how I think we build some bridges and have some respect for one another."

He has also said that Americans who don't have children should be taxed at a higher rate than those who do. "Let's tax the things that are bad and not tax the things that are good," Vance said on The Charlie Kirk Show in 2021, ABC News reported. "If you're making $100,000, $400,000 a year and you've got three kids, you should pay a different lower tax rate than if you're making the same amount of money, and you don't have any kids."

Separately, Vance has championed trade policies that align with Trump's "America First" vision. These include imposing tariffs on imports from China and other nations to promote U.S. manufacturing and protect American jobs.