In Flint, Sarah Huckabee Sanders digs at Kamala Harris for not having biological children

Addressing a crowd of former President Donald Trump's supporters in Flint on Tuesday night, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appeared to criticize Vice President Kamala Harris for not having given birth.

The comment, delivered just before Huckabee Sanders hosted an hour-long "town hall" meeting with Trump, led to others blasting the governor and former Trump White House press secretary. On MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Wednesday, co-host Mika Brzezinski responded by saying, "What is their (the Trump campaign's) obsession with women without children of their biological connection."

It also comes after Trump's running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, was widely criticized for a 2021 interview with Tucker Carlson in which he railed that the country was being run "by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives." He included Harris, now the Democratic nominee for president, among them by name.

In her remarks Tuesday night at the Dort Financial Center hockey arena in Flint before Trump joined her onstage, Huckabee Sanders began by saying that while she was proud of being Arkansas' first woman governor and White House press secretary, "the greatest title I have is that of being a mom" to three children.

She then said her children keep her humble, remembering a time when she was preparing her daughter for a daddy-daughter dance and becoming emotional when the girl said to her, "It's OK, mommy, one day you can be pretty, too."

"So my kids keep me humble," Huckabee Sanders continued. "Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn't have anything keeping her humble."

Harris, who is married to Doug Emhoff, is stepmother to his two grown children, Cole and Ella Emhoff, who call her "Momala." On Tuesday night, Emhoff's ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff, a film producer and executive who has voiced her support for Harris and pride in their blended family, chastised Huckabee Sanders' remarks on social media platform X.

"Cole and Ella keep us inspired to make the world a better place. I do it through storytelling. Kamala Harris has spent her entire career working for the people, ALL families. That keeps you pretty humble," Kerstin Emhoff said in the post.

Last week, pop megastar Taylor Swift endorsed Harris following the vice president's debate with Trump, referring to herself as a “Childless Cat Lady” on Instagram.

Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: In Flint, Huckabee Sanders jabs at Harris for not having given birth