Unearthed video: JD Vance said childless elites make the U.S. “dangerous.” It was too much for a Newsmax interviewer.

Written by Eric Hananoki

Published

In a previously unreported interview, JD Vance ranted in 2021 that the country has become a “dangerous place to live” because of childless elites. Vance’s remarks were met with skepticism from a seemingly unlikely source: Jenn Pellegrino, a conservative Newsmax host who was interviewing him. 

Vance, who was previously a conservative commentator, has frequently criticized people for being childless. Media Matters has documented numerous instances of such remarks made in right-wing media, and senior fellow Matt Gertz has noted that the right-wing media bubble has incentivized politicians like Vance to make toxic remarks. 

In one instance, Vance attacked people “who can't have kids” because they “passed the biological period when it was possible” as “miserable” people who pursue “racial or gender equity” to give “their life meaning.” Those comments, which were first reported by Media Matters, resurfaced over the weekend and increased scrutiny on Trump’s running mate.

While right-wing media outlets have largely been a safe space, some conservative hosts haven’t bought into his rhetoric. In July, Fox News’ Trey Gowdy said before interviewing him that “some of the finest people I know don’t have children.”

Another instance occurred on July 30, 2021, when Vance, then a Senate candidate, appeared on the now-defunct show Cortes & Pellegrino on the pro-Trump Newsmax TV. Former Trump adviser Steve Cortes and conservative reporter Jenn Pellegrino hosted the show. 

Cortes started off by praising Vance “for being bold enough to say things that I think a lot of people on the right believe but are too scared to say because they’re scared of the blowback, and you clearly are not.” 

Cortes then shifted to discussing “credentialed elites,” whom he described as “childless” people who “don't encounter families very much, and yet they have an incredible outsize influence on families all over the United States that they're totally separated from.”

Vance agreed, falsely claiming that Vice President Kamala Harris doesn’t have children (she’s a stepmother) and arguing that “we're being ruled by a childless elite.”

He went on: “And it's not just they don't have kids — of course a lot of people don't have kids for different reasons — it's that they're proud of the fact they don't have kids. … They look down on people who invest their time and their future in their children.” He concluded: “That is a dangerous place to live as a country.” 

From the July 30, 2021, edition of Newsmax TV's Cortes & Pellegrino

JD VANCE: I was looking at the leaders of the Democrats and realized how many of the next-gen leaders of the Democrats — It's Kamala Harris, it's AOC, it's a lot of folks like that — they're not planning to have kids. They don't have kids. And I noticed that, you know, not having children, I think, changes the way you think about the future of the country. If you don't have skin in the game — you pointed to some of the studies that suggest that parents think about the future of the country in a different way.

And I realized that we're being ruled by a childless elite, and it's not just they don't have kids — of course a lot of people don't have kids for different reasons — it's that they're proud of the fact they don't have kids. They think it's bad if you have kids. They think it's bad for the environment.

They're proud of their abortions. They shout their abortions from the rooftops. We're entering a new era where the leaders of the left are not just without kids. They're proud of that fact, and they look down on people who invest their time and their future in their children. And that is a dangerous place to live as a country.

Pellegrino then (gently) pushed back on Vance’s remarks. The Newsmax co-host said she has “a different stance” and told him of childless people: “There are about a quarter of the population that chooses not to have kids. These are perhaps some of the hardest-working, most career-driven people that you'll find. Are we not painting this group with perhaps a broad brush?” 

JENN PELLEGRINO: JD, so I'm curious. I take a different stance, a little bit different than you and Steve, respectfully. There are about a quarter of the population that chooses not to have kids. These are perhaps some of the hardest-working, most career-driven people that you'll find. Are we not painting this group with perhaps a broad brush? Because not everybody is of that mentality that, you know, I'm not doing it because of climate change. Some people just choose a little bit differently, and should those people not be excluded, because perhaps society is changing a little bit. Perhaps people are seeing the American dream as, you know, focusing on their careers. What are your thoughts? 

Vance replied: 

JD VANCE: Look, I've got people in my own family who haven't had kids for various reasons. Of course I've got dear friends who haven't had kids. But I think it's one thing to say that some people are gonna choose not to have children, and another thing to say that we're living in a country where having children is now looked down upon. And I think that's really where we have to focus our attention. Look, you do not have a future as a country unless you have the next generation, unless you have babies, unless you have viable healthy families.

And I think so much of what's going on in the left, especially, is that they become obsessed with this idea that having a kid is like an old fashioned thing. It's something the previous generations did. Look, if people don’t want to have kids, that's their choice. But we shouldn't turn it into a lifestyle brand, and we shouldn't point our finger at those hicks in middle America who have children because those are the people who are gonna actually be the future of this country whether we like it or not.