Kamala Harris politely reminds Sarah Huckabee Sanders that we’re not living in the 1950s anymore

Kamala Harris politely reminds Sarah Huckabee Sanders that we’re not living in the 1950s anymore

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Kamala Harris would like Sarah Huckabee Sanders to get out of the 1950s.

The Arkansas governor appeared to deride Harris last month for not having biological children, adding that she has “nothing to keep her humble.” The Vice President has two stepchildren with her husband, Doug Emhoff.

During an appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, host Alex Cooper asked Harris about Sanders’ apparent broadside. In response, Harris provided a thoughtful, nuanced answer about the evolving definition of family.

“I don’t think she understands there are a whole lot of women out here who one, are not aspiring to be humble. Two, a whole lot of women are out here who have a lot of family in their life. And children in their life. I think it’s really important for women to lift each other up,” she said.

Harris pointed to herself as an example.

“We have our family by blood. Then we have our family by love. And I have both. I consider it be a real blessing,” she added. “I have two beautiful children, Cole and Ella, who call me ‘Momala.’ We have a very modern family. My husband’s ex-wife is a friend of mine.”

Sanders is one of multiple high-profile Republicans who’s spoken derisively about people without biological children, and women in particular. Perhaps most notably, JD Vance previously referred to Harris as a “childless cat lady,” and said women who emphasize professional success over raising kids hold a “value system that leads to misery.”

At a rally for Trump, a thrice-married man who famously ignores his children, Sanders invoked Harris when talking about how her kids keep her grounded.

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“You can walk into a room like this where people cheer when you step onto the stage and you might think for a second that you’re kind of special. Then you go home, and your kids remind you very quickly you’re actually not that big of a deal,” she said, before insulting Harris.

“My kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything keeping her humble,” she added.

Sanders’ sentiment about being a mom would be sweet… if she didn’t use her experience to criticize Harris’ family. (Sanders issued a statement Sunday night, backing away from her dig with a large helping of word salad.)

Harris started dating Doug in 2013, when they were set up on a blind date. Doug, who was previously married, was divorced with two young kids.

She told Cooper about how she navigated the unique familial dynamic. With nearly 30 million divorced people in the U.S., it’s safe to say millions of Americans can relate to her experience.

“I’m a child of divorced parents. When I started dating Doug, my husband, I was very thoughtful and sensitive to making sure that until I knew our relationship was something that was gonna be real, I didn’t want to form a relationship with the kids and then walk away from that relationship,” she said.

“My own experience tells me that, you know, children form attachments. You really want to be thoughtful about it. So I waited to meet the kids. And they are my children. I love those kids to death. Family comes in many forms, and I think that increasingly all of us understand this is not the 1950s anymore. Families come in all kinds of shapes and forms.”

As LGBTQ+ folx, we know that all too well. When facing rejection from their biological relatives, queer people have historically turned to chosen families for comfort and support.

Cooper brought up that point.

“I also know there are a lot of people who don’t have the ability to even have the relationship with their blood families,” she said. “It is more common these days for people to know about boundaries… and to choose family, and choose people who lift them up. It is a very big conversation. You should not feel ashamed for whatever you call your family. Family is family is family.”

While coming in a different flavor, Sanders and Vance’s dismissal of women without biological children harkens back to old conservative ideas about sex and traditional gender roles. It’s worth noting that Vance also hit Pete Buttigieg with the “childless cat lady” charge.

Pete and Chasten, who adopted twins in 2021, have their own modern family. They’ve been open about their struggles to adopt, and the difficulty of the process.

“The really sad thing is [Vance] said that after Chasten and I had been through a fairly heartbreaking setback in our adoption journey,” Buttigieg said this past summer. “He couldn’t have known that, but maybe that’s why you shouldn’t be talking about other people’s children.”

And why are Vance and Sanders talking about other people’s children? Harris said they’re trying to make “people feel small and alone.”

Given the continued outrage over their insults about childless women, it’s safe to say Harris isn’t the only person who feels that way.

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