While the ‘childless cat lady’ framing is new, politicians making parenthood and family a centerpiece in their appeals to the American public has a long history. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance infamously said in 2021 that the Democratic Party is run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices they’ve made”—and do not have a “direct stake” in the future of the United States.