I am a father and a stepfather, and I have been a son and a stepson and an adopted son. From a purely political point of view, JD Vance’s attacks on families like mine are baffling. Any candidate looking for votes would realize that it makes no political sense. And it displays complete ignorance of the nature of real American families today.
If you know anything about anything, you know that families can be connected by blood or by law or not connected at all. You can be of any race or nationality. And you can make a family out of it if you are willing to lead with love and work hard at it.
In an interview Vance gave to Tucker Carlson on Fox News during his 2021 U.S. Senate campaign, Vance said that “people without children” do not have a “direct stake” in America’s future. He said that the Democratic Party “is controlled by people without children.” And he cited Kamala Harris, who has two stepchildren but no biological children, as an example.
Last week, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders continued Vance’s assault on Harris and dismissed the role of all stepparents. While hosting a townhall discussion for Donald Trump, Sanders said “my kids keep me humble.” She then added, “Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything keeping her humble.”
Bryan Lanza, a Trump campaign adviser, was bothered enough by Sanders’ remarks that he told CNN, “I found that comment to be actually offensive. I don’t know what more to say about that. I’m disappointed in Sarah saying that. I’m sure I’m going to get criticism from the campaign, but I have to sort of defend somebody who’s a stepmom. It’s a tough job. People step into that role.”
Ask Harris’ family what they think about her, and you will get the real story. Her stepchildren — Cole and Ella — call her “Momala,” a term of affection that she wears proudly.
Kerstin Emhoff is the former wife of Doug Emhoff, Harris’ husband, and the biological mother of those now-adult children. “For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I,” she said in July. ”She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.”
Vance’s attack on families does not stop with his political opponents. When he started the big lie about the legal Haitian residents of Springfield, Ohio, kidnapping and eating pets, he achieved the Trump campaign objective of reclaiming the top spot in all the news for several weeks. It went viral when Trump bashed the immigrants in front of nearly 70 million people at the Sept. 10 debate with Harris, shrieking, “They’re eating dogs!”
When it was discovered to be a lie, Vance kept repeating it. Vance told CNN that “if I have to create stories” to get the media to cover his anti-immigrant proposals, “then that’s what I’m going to do.”
With no regard for the families of Springfield and with an aggressive disregard for the safety of Haitian families who live there, Vance has turned the community upside down. Haitian families are living in fear. All of the children in Springfield are suffering because of the bomb threats that have closed the schools.
And for what reason is all of this suffering happening? So that Vance and Trump could recommand the lead in all the news cycles.
