Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance has falsely accused Vice President Kamala Harris of opposing the child tax credit as he seeks to turn the page from his rocky debut on the national stage.
Vance, who has faced widespread mockery for his attacks on “childless cat ladies,” claimed that Harris wants to end the child tax credit in a so-far failed effort to move on from his proposals to favor parents over others.
“A lot of parents and a lot of non-parents look at our public policy for the last four years and ask: How did we get to a place where Kamala Harris is calling for an end to the child tax credit?” Vance, 39, said in a Fox News interview Sunday night.
Vance’s claim about Harris is flat-out false. In fact, the Biden administration dramatically increased the credit during the COVID-19 pandemic and pushed for its extension. Vance and his Republican allies in the Senate killed that effort a few months ago.
The Harris campaign Monday lobbed new attacks on Vance, a first-term senator from Ohio, calling him too inexperienced to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.
“(He’s) one of the most unprepared people that we have ever put up to hold the vice presidency of the United States,” said Mitch Landrieu, co-chair of Harris’s campaign, told CNN.
The newly minted No. 2 pick on former President Trump’s ticket is facing a second week of questions about his less-than-optimal roll out after being unveiled at the Republican National Convention.
After delivering an underwhelming speech at the RNC, Vance has been dogged by myriad questions about his far-right views, which Democrats have branded as “weird.”
He was caught on tape suggesting that Democrats cannot be trusted with America’s future because they are led by unhappy people without biological children like Harris, Pete Buttigieg and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Vance has also proposed giving more votes to parents of young children, an idea that would violate the constitutional guarantee of equal protection for all, including those he derides as “childless cat ladies.”
Trump has been surprisingly slow to defend Vance against the backlash over his remarks, sparking speculation that the GOP could even swap him out for a candidate with less baggage.
Democrats may seek to keep Vance’s missteps in the public eye as Harris considers making her own vice presidential pick as early as this week. She was catapulted into the top spot on the Democratic ticket when President Biden dropped out of the race and backed her.
Top candidates for the No. 2 Democratic slot include more-experienced political figures like Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona), Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Buttigieg and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
