James David Vance under scrutiny for past childless taxation remarks

The candidate for vice president in Donald Trump’s future administration has faced media criticism since the announcement of his new role. His controversial ideas are being highlighted again.

An interview in which the senator from Ohio shared his thoughts on altering the tax system was featured in an episode of the podcast "The Charlie Kirk Show" in 2021. ABC News is now referencing this conversation.

Kirk, the CEO of Turning Point USA's conservative student organisation, considered how Republicans could influence public perception of certain conservative ideas. At that time, JD Vance, who had not yet started his Senate campaign for 2022, replied that the country must "reward things that we think are good" and "punish things that we think are bad."

He suggested that childless individuals should be taxed at a higher rate than those with children. "If you make £77,000, £308,000 a year and have three children, you should pay a different, lower tax rate than if you make the same amount of money and have no children. It’s that simple," Vance said.

The interview is no longer available on Kirk's channel. On YouTube, there is now a message: "This video was removed by the person who uploaded it." However, since nothing disappears from the internet, ABC News found an audio version of the interview.

Kirk's spokesperson told ABC News that the removal of the 2021 interview with Vance had nothing to do with his selection as the vice presidential candidate. However, it is one of many of his now uncomfortable statements.

The news outlet reminds us that also in 2021, Vance questioned Vice President Kamala Harris's leadership because she does not have biological children. "In this country, it’s mainly Democrats who rule," who are "a group of childless cat ladies who are unhappy with their lives and the choices they’ve made, and therefore they want the rest of the country to be unhappy too" the politician said in an interview with Fox News.

In a speech delivered that same year at a forum of the conservative Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Vance presented astonishing ideas. He proposed that parents should have the possibility of casting an additional vote on behalf of their children.

"Let’s give votes to all the children in this country, but let’s give control over those votes to the parents of those children. When you go to vote in this country as a parent, you should have more power - you should have a greater ability to express your voice in our democratic republic - than people who do not have children," argued Vance.