JD Vance, who wants to be vice president of the United States, believes he knows what is best for American families. He says that he is “pro-family,” but it seems that the only families Vance considers legitimate are those like his traditional family, consisting of his wife and three children.
I will spare readers the details of Vance’s beliefs about “childless cat ladies” and families who don’t have children. I will say, however, that for a young man of 40 years, Vance has not had enough life experiences to understand how much he doesn’t know about the challenges of ordinary Americans. Then again, the man who picked him as a running mate thinks he knows everything, too. Just ask him.
Vance has said that only families with children are invested in America’s future. Perhaps he would be surprised to learn that a 2021 Pew Research Center study found that only 37 percent of his peers ages 25 to 49 lived with a spouse and had one or more children.
If Vance wants to advocate for American families, he may want to start at home and become a stronger advocate for his wife and children. His wife, Usha Vance, is an Indian American, born to parents who immigrated to America from India. She holds to her Hindu faith.
Like Kamala Harris, Vance’s three children, who are half Indian and half white, are biracial, a common characteristic of Americans today that Donald Trump seems to have trouble understanding. It would have been nice to hear Vance speak up in defense of biracial Americans when his running mate seemed confused about how Harris could talk about her Indian heritage one day and her Black heritage the other, without denying either.
When Vance was questioned about Trump’s attack on Harris’ biracial background, he said that Trump was being “totally reasonable” and called Harris a “chameleon.” This is rich coming from a guy who has changed his name three times, changed his religion, and has significantly changed his politics, especially his opinion of Trump, whom he once called on Twitter “reprehensible” and “an idiot.”
I’m also waiting for Vance to stand up against the racism being thrown at Harris for being Black and Indian. Vance has stated that he loves his wife because “she’s who she is.” Because “she’s not a white person,” said Vance, “we’ve been accused, attacked by some white supremacists.” Of course, these are some of the same folks attacking Harris.
It would be nice for Vance to not only condemn white supremacists when they say stupid things about his wife and the names of his children but to condemn members of his Republican Party who associate with white supremacists.
Vance could advocate for his family, as well as millions of other biracial couples and children in America, by actively rejecting racist groups that support the Republican Party and Republican officials, including Trump.
In a recent interview, Vance was asked how he could join Trump’s presidential ticket when people like Nick Fuentes, a self-admitted and proud white supremacist who has said terrible things about Usha Vance, has dined with Trump in his Florida home. Fuentes criticized Vance’s selection as Trump’s running mate and wondered how he could be a “defender of white identity” while being married to a non-white wife. “Clearly,” said Fuentes, “he doesn’t value his racial identity.”
Trump had dinner with Fuentes and Kanye West at Mar-a-Lago in 2022. Trump said he didn’t know who Fuentes was but has said little to condemn him or his beliefs. Nor has he condemned West, his friend, for his association with Fuentes and other white supremacists.
Vance seems to be caught in the middle between a beautiful, biracial family and a Republican Party that looks down on his family for their racial identity. He has failed to use his position as the Republican nominee for vice president to educate and advocate to his fellow Republicans that his family is as American as any other and that, in fact, a majority of American families come in different arrangements, colors and religions.
Vance could speak up in no uncertain terms against white supremacists and racists and strongly reject their support of the Republican Party. He could also urge Trump to do the same. Unfortunately, as demonstrated by his inability to stand up for Medal of Honor recipients insulted by Trump this past week, Vance doesn’t have the values or a strong enough backbone to take such positions.
While he wants everyone to have children, Vance and his fellow Republicans have blocked the extension of tax credits for children that cut child poverty by half during the Biden administration. Yet they are willing to give more tax cuts to billionaires.
Vance could also state that he will protect the Affordable Care Act, which provides health care coverage for 45 million American families and has reduced the number of American children without health care by 38 percent.
Ten states under Republican control continue to deny their citizens the benefits of expanded Medicaid coverage for children provided by the ACA. Vance could advocate for these children and encourage those Republicans to do what is right for their state’s children.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation provides state-by-state comparisons of the overall well-being of our nation’s children. The 10 states with the best outcomes for children are mostly Democratic-led states. Most of the 10 states with the worst outcomes for children are Republican-led states. Vance could challenge his fellow Republicans to do better for ordinary families, especially their children.
If Vance wants Americans to have more children, he should advocate for making child care available and affordable so parents don’t have to quit their jobs after having children. Most married couples with children, like the Vance family, include two working parents. Unlike the Vance family, however, most American families are not wealthy.
If he wants Americans to have more children, it would be nice to hear Vance advocate for policies that improve the quality of life for our nation’s children but that he and the GOP have consistently blocked.
Tom Zirpoli is the Laurence J. Adams Distinguished Chair in Special Education Emeritus at McDaniel College. He writes from Westminster. His column appears on Wednesdays. Email him at tzirpoli@mcdaniel.edu.
