Chasten Buttigieg Drags 'Wannabe' Sen. J.D. Vance Over Childless Comments

Chasten Glezman Buttigieg took aim at comments made by Hillbilly Elegy author and Republican U.S. Senate hopeful J.D. Vance.

He called out Vance's comments at a conservative conference singling out Democratic leaders without children.

"Bringing a child into this world can be a long, difficult, and often heartbreaking process for any family. Shame on [Vance] for this tactless take. As a father, he should know better. As a wannabe Senator, it's clear that empathy isn't his strong suit," Chasten wrote.

He added that not having kids "doesn't make you any less American."

In a recent Washington Post profile, Chasten revealed he and his husband have been trying to adopt for over a year.

"It's a really weird cycle of anger and frustration and hope," Chasten told the Post. "You think it's finally happening and you get so excited, and then it's gone."

On Friday, Vance, who wants to be the next U.S. senator from Ohio, spoke at a conference organized by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute where he called out Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Chasten's husband, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, for being on "the childless left," reported The Guardian.

Vance said that "the childless left" doesn't have a "physical commitment to the future of this country."

He asked, "Why is this just a normal fact of ... life for the leaders of our country to be people who don't have a personal and direct stake in it via their own offspring?"

Vance said that votes should go to American children with parents controlling the vote, making parents have a greater say than non-parents in the U.S., according to The Guardian.

"We should worry that in America, family formation, our birth rates, a ton of indicators of family health have collapsed," Vance said.

The venture capitalist also praised right-wing leader Victor Orban of Hungary and the Hungarian government's program of providing loans to married couples and offering loan forgiveness to those who have children.

The Washington Post's Dave Weigel noted that Vance failed to mention the new Biden administration child tax credit that provides an average of over $400 to parents each month.

Economist Paul Krugman provided a Twitter thread arguing against Vance's pro-natalist policy.

"So the economic case for pro-natalism is really weak -- so you're left with some kind of 'family values' argument (I mean, look at how fatherhood has mellowed and matured Donald Trump) or, not-so-hidden subtext, the need for more white Christians," Krugman wrote.