J.D. Vance Agreed That the ‘Whole Purpose of the Postmenopausal Female’ Is to Help Raise Grandkids

In a 2020 interview, the Republican vice presidential candidate recalled that his mother-in-law took a sabbatical from her job as a biology professor to help care for his son

More of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance's past comments about women are resurfacing, this time from a 2020 podcast interview in which he and the host discussed "the postmenopausal female."

In an episode of The Portal podcast released in April 2020, Vance — who was recently selected as former President Donald Trump's 2024 running mate — spoke about how his wife, Usha Vance’s mother came to live with their family after one of his children was born.

Host Eric Weinstein, managing director of the venture capital firm Thiel Capital, asked Vance about the experience sharing a roof with his mother-in-law.

The Republican vice presidential candidate said that having his grandma around the house made his son "a much better human being." He continued, "And the evidence on this, by the way, is, like, super clear."

"That's the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female in theory," Weinstein interjects, as Vance says, "Yes."

Related: J.D. Vance Isn't the Bridge-Building VP That Moderates Wanted: What He's Said About Women, Voting and Project 2025

Weinstein then made a racially charged comment, calling the grandmother’s presence in a home a "weird, unadvertised feature of marrying an Indian woman."

Without acknowledging the jab, Vance continued to call the experience "in some ways, the most transgressive thing I've ever done against, sort of, the hyper-neoliberal approach to work and family."

He explained that his mother-in-law took a sabbatical from her job as a biology professor to help care for their child. Vance said the decision did not make sense economically, asking, "Why didn't she just keep her job [and] give us part of the wages to pay somebody else to do it?"

Related: J.D. Vance's Wife Usha Resigns from Powerful Law Job After His VP Nomination, to 'Focus on Caring for Our Family'

Postmenopause occurs when people with menstrual periods haven’t experienced a cycle in 12 consecutive months. It signifies that the person is no longer in the reproductive stage of their life. Cleveland Clinic says that people, on average, reach postmenopause around the age of 52.

Vance has gotten into hot water recently for other comments he's made about women and motherhood.

In July, resurfaced comments from Vance's 2021 interview with then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson stirred controversy. During their conversation, Vance claimed that the U.S. was being run, under Democratic leadership, by "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too."

He continued, "It's just a basic fact — you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC — the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we've turned our country over to people who don't really have a direct stake in it?"

Related: Jennifer Aniston Blasts J.D. Vance's Past Comments About Women Without Children: 'Truly Can't Believe This'

More recently, he doubled down on his comments, saying on The Megyn Kelly Show on Sirius XM, "Obviously, it was a sarcastic comment. I’ve got nothing against cats. I know the media wants to attack me and wants me to back down, Megyn, but the simple point that I made is that having children — becoming a father, becoming a mother — I really do think it changes your perspective in a pretty profound way."

The Ohio senator shares three children with his wife: Ewan, 6; Vivek, 4; and Mirabel, 2.

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