Hey Fox, If You're Explaining, You're Losing
Fox's Trey Gowdy went through a long explainer without actually giving any "context" to what JD Vance said about "childless cat ladies" while pretending that he might somehow ask for forgiveness for his remarks.
Fox's Trey Gowdy went through a long explainer without actually giving any "context" to what JD Vance said about "childless cat ladies" while pretending that he might somehow ask for forgiveness for his remarks.
I hate to break it to Gowdy, but if you're having to go through this sort of tortured explainer hoping to do a bit of damage control for your boy's vice presidential pick who insulted millions of American women and anyone else who doesn't have children for whatever reason, your side ain't winning.
Here's Gowdy's intro this Sunday just prior to Vance making an appearance for an interview:
GOWDY: Three years ago, then Senate candidate J .D. Vance made a comment about, quote, childless cat ladies who are miserable and want others to be miserable, too. It was implied those with children have a more vested interest in the future of the country. (It was more than "implied." It's literally what he said.)
We have something called the rule of completeness in the courtroom, which tells us not to accept snippets or out of context quotes, but rather consider everything said or written in full. So I've done that. (Maybe Gowdy should have also noted that the childless cat lady crap isn't the only offensive thing Vance has said about people who don't have children, but do go on.)
I've watched that interview many times and you should too in full and draw your own conclusions. When that interview surfaced, two things left to my mind. Those of us who talk for a living, make mistakes. We say things that in hindsight we might phrase differently or better or not at all.
And then I thought about a stormy day at Reagan national airport, where I met two women desperately trying to get home to South America.
I was trying to get home to South Carolina. We spent the whole day together, finally making it to Charlotte. And then somehow we got them on a flight to Houston. They were headed to visit family in South America before returning to their new home called America.
And when we parted ways, they said, they'd like to pray for me as their way of saying thanks for the day spent together. And I assured them it's too late to help me. But I do have a friend who's expecting, and she got some tough news about her unborn child.
Would they please pray for her instead? And they did. And they still do to this day. They're Catholic nuns, childless, dedicated to God, love this country, living lives of service to others. And it's not just Catholic nuns.
Some of the finest people I know don't have children, teachers and guidance counselors and lawyers and doctors. And they love other people's children enough to teach and guide and protect. And minister to them.
Some people choose not to have children. Others desperately want them, but they can't. In a moment we'll speak with Senator JD Vance. We have never met before, but we have many friends in common who tell me that he is smart and he is talented and he is more than capable.
None is perfect. No, not one. That's what the good book says. And the American people are forgiving. If we ask.
Spoiler alert, that's not what Vance did. He came on and attacked Democrats for supposedly taking him out of context.
And Gowdy sat there and let him do it, and didn't bother to bring up any of the other remarks made by Vance that might have given what he said a few years ago some more "context."
Even when Fox is pretending to be slightly critical of Republicans, they get it wrong and wind up kissing their back sides in the end. I find it hilarious that Gowdy felt the need to go through this ridiculous ritual prior to Vance coming on his show.
They know he's on the wrong side of this issue and really have not figured out how to deal with it, so they're flailing around like Gowdy does here.
Vance might be the worst VP pick since Sarah Palin before this is all over. Between the Christofascism, the sexism, the couch f***er jokes, stealing the limelight from Trump with all the headlines being about him, which we all know Trump won't want to tolerate for long, I think the speculation is valid over whether Trump might actually try to dump him or not.