Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas drew controversy after mocking Vice President Kamala Harris by echoing remarks made by J.D. Vance about “childless cat ladies.” Speaking at a Trump rally in Flint, Michigan, Sanders suggested that her children keep her humble, something she implied Harris lacks due to not having biological children.
“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,” Sanders said. “Then you go home, and your kids remind you very quickly you’re actually not that big of a deal… Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything keeping her humble.”
According to ABC News, Harris, who is a stepmother to two grown children, Cole and Ella, from her husband Doug Emhoff’s first marriage, was defended by Doug’s ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff. Responding to X (formerly Twitter), she wrote, “Cole and Ella keep us inspired to make the world a better place.
Kamala Harris has spent her entire career working for the people, all families. That keeps you pretty humble.” Doug Emhoff himself addressed Sanders’s remarks during a campaign event in Brooklyn, New York, calling her comments offensive.
“Somehow because Cole and Ella aren’t Kamala’s quote-unquote biological children, she doesn’t have anything in her life to keep her humble,” he said. Emhoff went on to criticize the notion that keeping women “humble” should be a goal, adding, “Kamala sure kept Trump humble at that debate, didn’t she? Because that’s what this is really about.”
According to The Hill, The comments also sparked a backlash from within Republican circles. Senior Trump campaign adviser Bryan Lanza called Sanders’s remarks “offensive” during an appearance on CNN, noting his own experience with a stepmother. “I found that comment to be actually offensive… I’m disappointed in Sarah for saying that,” Lanza said, adding, “I have to defend somebody who’s a stepmom.
It’s a tough job.” In an attempt to clarify Sanders’s remarks, her spokesperson, Sam Dubke, issued a statement to Politico, explaining that the governor was criticizing Harris’s policy stances, not her personal life.
“Vice President Harris, without winning any votes, and after driving up prices by 20% and allowing nearly ten million illegal border crossings, is claiming she alone can solve America’s problems,” Dubke said. “That’s the lack of humility Governor Sanders was referencing.” Despite the clarification, the exchange has fueled ongoing debates about personal attacks in politics and the role of family in public life.