Conservative political commentator Tomi Lahren questioned former President Donald Trump’s choice of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his 2024 running mate in a post on X.
In a post on X on Thursday, Lahren, a Fox News contributor with more than 2.5 million followers on the platform, said: “I like JD Vance, but I’m not sure the math as a VP pick is correct.
“It’s going to be three months of repeating your past comments. It’s not going to be easy to avoid some of them. Sorry, just the truth.”
The context
Some Republican figures have reportedly been concerned that Trump may have made a mistake in choosing Vance as his running mate in 2024.
While the former president has publicly said he is happy with Vance, that the senator is “doing a fantastic job” and has been “very well received” by the public during an interview with Fox News on Thursday, concerns remain about whether the Ohio senator could be a burden on Republicans in November.
Lahren included a clip from her show on Outkick, a conservative-leaning sports and politics website, where she focused on resurfaced comments Vance made in 2021 when he described Democrats as a “bunch of childless cat ladies with miserable lives.”
She said: “I think they’re going to play the clip, I mean they already have, of him calling women and Kamala Harris and others ‘childless cat ladies’… If you’re trying to win over suburban women and you call suburban women ‘childless cat ladies’, you’re not going to convince them to come over to your side.
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“I think it’s funny as a Republican, but I don’t think a lot of suburban women who are undecided would find it funny.”
Newsweek Magazine I reached out to Sen. J.D. Vance’s congressional office and Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign for comment via email on Friday outside regular business hours.
Lahren’s X-post sparked a mixed response from other social media users, with one responding: “Come on Tomi, we need unity here and come together as a party.”
Another said: “I’m so frustrated, it seems so clear that Vivek and DeSantis were better choices.”
What we know
Vance also came under fire for his 2021 comment about “childless cat ladies” from Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston, who has spoken publicly about her struggles to conceive.
In an Instagram post, Aniston wrote: “All I can say is… Mr. Vance, I pray your daughter is lucky enough to have children of her own one day.
“I hope she doesn’t have to resort to IVF as a second option, because you’re trying to take that away from her, too.”
Trump has repeatedly defended in vitro fertilization, most notably in February after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos could be considered children under state law led some providers to suspend IVF services. There is no indication that Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign will seek to end the treatment.
Trump announced he had chosen Vance as his vice presidential nominee on July 15 after months of intense speculation and jockeying for the post.
In a post on his website Truth Social, Trump wrote: “JD has had a very successful business career in technology and finance, and now during the campaign he will focus strongly on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American workers and farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and far beyond…”
On July 21, President Joe Biden announced that he was withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race and instead endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. Harris quickly garnered enough support to become her party’s virtual nominee. On Friday, she received an endorsement from former President Barack Obama.
Uncommon knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
