What did JD Vance say about teachers who don't have children of their own?

Senator JD Vance of Ohio is making news again due to his previous negative comments about people without children, specifically targeting teachers.

In a resurfaced audio snippet circulating online from 2021, Vance, the running mate of the Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump, is heard speaking to the Center for Christian Virtue, an Ohio policy group, explaining that teachers without children “disorients” and “really disturbs” him.

“Randi Weingarten—who’s the head of the most powerful teacher’s union in the country—she doesn’t have a single child,” Vance said. “If she wants to brainwash and destroy the minds of children, she should have some of her own and leave ours the hell alone,” said the father of three biological children. “...That really disorients me. And it really disturbs me.”

Before leading the American Federation of Teachers, Weingarten, who is also an attorney, taught history at Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood from 1991 to 1997. She helped her students win several state and national awards for debating constitutional issues, according to her official biography.

Married to Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, who describes herself as “a mother by marriage,” is also the stepmother to two daughters, according to The Advocate.

Weingarten responded on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday: “Gross! JD Vance’s comments are sad and insulting to millions of modern families and school teachers, including Catholic nuns, none of whom should be targeted for their family decisions.”

After USA TODAY’s publication of the story, Taylor Van Kirk, a spokeswoman for Vance, denied his comments were directed at teachers: “There is no bigger threat to American children than the left-wing indoctrination being forced on our schools by elites like Randi Weingarten, with the support of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.” “Senator Vance is committed to ending the leftist indoctrination in our schools and will continue to loudly call this crap out to defend our kids,” Van Kirk added.

Since being selected by Trump as his running mate last month, Vance has held rallies in battleground states and headlined fundraisers. But his debut has sometimes been shaky due to his unearthed 2021 comments in an interview with FOX News' Tucker Carlson about “childless cat ladies,” a jab seen as misogynistic and discriminatory to people without children.

“It’s just a basic fact. You look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children,” said Vance.

Harris has two stepchildren with her husband, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff. And Transportation Secretary Buttigieg and husband Chasten welcomed twins just weeks after Vance’s interview.

Reuters contributed to the reporting of this story.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Vance 'disturbed' over teachers without their own kids