Midwest
Vance defends 'childless cat lady' comment, says 'joke' was 'willfully misinterpreted' by Democrats
Vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance’s regret in referring to some leaders as “childless cat ladies” is that “a lot of people took it the wrong way,” he revealed during a recent interview.
Since jumping into the 2024 presidential race, Vance has caught flak for a resurfaced 2021 comment, when he said that “we’re effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies.”
The senator, however, says that the statement was taken out of context.
“I want to be the vice president for the whole country and I want to represent everyone. And yes, I made a sarcastic comment years ago that I think that a lot of Democrats have willfully misinterpreted,” Vance told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
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Sen. JD Vance addresses a campaign rally on Aug. 20, 2024, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Andy Manis/Getty Images)
Vance was then pressed again on whether he regretted the comment.
“I regret certainly that a lot of people took it the wrong way. And I certainly regret that the DNC and Kamala Harris lied about it,” the vice presidential candidate told the outlet.
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“I’m going to say things from time to time that people disagree with. I’m a real person, I’m going to make jokes, I’m going to say things sarcastically. And I think that what’s important is that we focus on the policy,” Vance added. “I have a lot of regrets, Kristen, but making a joke three years ago is not at the top 10 of the list.”
Former President Trump and Sen. JD Vance before making remarks to a crowd on Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, North Carolina. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
The Ohio senator added that he believes the U.S. is becoming increasingly “anti-family” and wants to give women more options for starting families.
“I want to change that,” he said. “I think if you talk to young women, whether they have children or don’t want to have children, what you consistently hear is that a lot of young women feel like they don’t have options.”
While Vance continues to defend his statement, Democrats have criticized the comment since he was selected as former President Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate.
Oprah Winfrey hit Sen. JD Vance for his “childless cat lady” comment while speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 21, 2024. (Mike Segar/Reuters)
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called it “offensive,” while Oprah Winfrey highlighted it in her speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
“Despite what some would have you think, we are not so different from our neighbors. When a house is on fire, we don’t ask about the homeowner’s race or religion, we don’t wonder who their partner is or how they voted. No, we just try to do the best we can to save them,” Winfrey told attendees at the DNC. “And if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady, well, we try to get that cat out, too.”
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Detroit restaurateur and nightlife mainstay Michael “Mike B.” Brown was fatally shot early Saturday morning on the city’s west side, a violent incident that also left two other people injured and sent shockwaves through Detroit’s hospitality and entertainment communities.
According to Detroit police, the shooting occurred outside Suite 100, a cocktail bar on Schaefer Highway near Puritan Avenue. Investigators are urging anyone with information to come forward. As of Sunday afternoon, authorities had not announced any suspects or arrests.
“At approximately 4:30 a.m., Saturday, there was a triple shooting that occurred at 15789 Schaefer,” Detroit Police Department (DPD) media relations manager Jasmin Barmore wrote in an official statement Sunday afternoon. “Two of the vicims were found in front of the location and the third across the street from the location. Unfortunately, the victim found across the street from the location, Mikey Brown, succumbed to his injuries.
“The Detroit Police Department extends their condolences to the family and is asking the community for assistance with this incident. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to please contact DPD’s homicide unit or, they can submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers or Detroit Rewards TV.”
Brown, 52, had spent decades building a name for himself across Detroit’s club and restaurant circuits, evolving from party promoter to business owner and, in recent years, a culinary entrepreneur with expanding ambitions. His death comes at a moment when he had been working to grow his “Sloppy” restaurant brand – a move that aligned with the rise of new Black-owned establishments reshaping the city’s dining landscape.
His first major restaurant venture, Sloppy Chops, opened in 2020 on West McNichols just off the Lodge Freeway. The steakhouse featured high-end cuts like ribeyes and tomahawks, but it quickly drew wide attention for its low-cost lamb chop specials – a dish with a fervent local following and long-standing ties to the city’s food culture.
A year later, Brown launched Sloppy Crab, later renamed the Crab Sports Bar, on East Jefferson Avenue near the Renaissance Center. The seafood spot mixed Detroiters’ love for crab dishes with the energetic, nightlife-forward atmosphere Brown had refined during his years in the entertainment scene. Occasional cover charges, signature strong cocktails and celebrity drop-ins helped make the venue one of downtown’s most animated destinations, placing it alongside longstanding nightlife pillars such as Floods Bar & Grille and Sweetwater Tavern.
Both restaurants emerged during a period when Detroiters were increasingly vocal about who new development served. Sloppy Crab’s proximity to the riverfront offered an answer to residents who wondered where Black diners fit into the city’s transforming downtown, while Sloppy Chops demonstrated that restaurants with the energy and polish of downtown destinations could thrive in the neighborhoods as well.
As of Sunday afternoon, more than 1,000 comments expressing sadness and shock had flooded a pinned post on Brown’s Instagram page, along with a number of posts on his Facebook profile.
On her own page, Darralynn Hutson, an award-winning journalist, author, documentarian and media strategist who has provided content to a host of media outlets including the Detroit Free Press, shared photos of herself with Brown.
“I had the opportunity to interview Mike a few years ago for a feature in Food & Wine and I remember how reluctant he was about sitting down to talk,” Hutson recalled. “Interviews weren’t his thing – he was much more comfortable building than explaining. I had to call him more than 20 times to set up the interview. He didn’t care about Food & Wine. But once we ate and got into conversation, what came out was his commitment to creating something for his Detroit.”
Brown’s influence stretched far beyond his menus. His establishments became recognizable gathering places, and his presence – familiar from downtown corridors to Dexter Avenue – made him a significant cultural figure in Detroit’s nightlife and, later, its dining renaissance.
His death leaves both industries mourning a personality whose ambitions were still growing, and whose imprint on the city’s social fabric remains unmistakable.
Community members and city leaders celebrated the opening of four new community-powered fridges on the North Side of Milwaukee. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Friday, Feb. 27, at Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, 3624 W. North Ave., to mark the occasion.
The effort to fight food scarcity by opening community-powered fridges comes after several grocery stores closed in the area, creating a food desert.
District 15 Ald. Russell W. Stamper II, who saw several grocery stores in his district close over the past few years, served as the event’s emcee.
“We could either complain about the problem, or we could come together to find a solution,” Stamper said.
In July 2025, a Pick ‘n Save on the North Side closed, prompting the opening of a community-powered fridge at Tricklebee Café in the Sherman Park and Uptown area. Since then, several other grocery stores have closed in the area.
This led Stamper, FEED MKE, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and One MKE to open four more community-powered fridges.
Christie Melby-Gibbons, executive director of Tricklebee Café, talked about the organization’s community-powered fridge. About a week ago, the fridge was empty for the first time since its launch, so staff turned to their online community for support.
“Within 20 minutes, a woman came in with bags of food and filled the fridge for less than $100,” Melby-Gibbons said.
The community-powered fridge network is run by residents on a take-what-you-need, leave-what-you-can model. Taking a grassroots approach to solving food insecurity in the area, community members provide fresh produce and other healthy food options to ensure that their neighbors have access to nutritious foods.
“Everybody deserves to eat. I can’t go to sleep at night knowing my neighbors are hungry,” said Melody McCurtis, deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges.
Here’s a list of all the community-powered fridges:
Metcalfe Park Community Bridges
3624 W. North Ave.
Rooted & Rising- Washington Park
3940 W. Lisbon Ave.
Sherman Park Community Association
3526 W. Fond du Lac Ave.
Dominican Center
2470 W. Locust St.
Tricklebee Café
4424 W. North Ave.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Minneapolis, MN
Man killed over Louie Vuitton bag, suspect was on bond for suspected carjacking, charges say
Minneapolis police are investigating a homicide on Feb. 24, 2026. (FOX 9)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – A man is dead after a witness said he refused to give up a Louis Vuitton bag while being robbed by multiple men at gunpoint.
Abdirahman Khayre Khayre, 20, is charged with second-degree murder and first-degree robbery for the incident that happened on the evening of Feb. 24 in Minneapolis.
READ MORE: Man fatally shot in south Minneapolis apartment building
Fatal Minneapolis shooting after robbery
The set-up:
Minneapolis police responded around 10:42 p.m. on Feb. 24 at the Abbott Apartments, located on the 100 block of East 18th Street in the Stevens Square neighborhood of Minneapolis.
Officers then found a dead man in the lobby who had been shot multiple times.
A witness to the shooting said he and the victim arrived at the apartments to “hang out” with Khayre, according to the criminal complaint.
The witness said he became suspicious when Khayre he left the room multiple times and “appeared to be stalling.”
The robbery:
The complaint states the witness reported three men then came into the room and yelled “Give me everything.” The men were armed with Glock handguns that had extended magazines as well as an AR-style rifle.
They then stole two guns from the witness, and one of them was handed to Khayre.
When the men demanded a Louis Vuitton bag from the victim, he refused, leading to a fight between them all.
The shooting:
The witness said when he walked toward them, Khayre pointed the witness’ stolen gun at him and racked it.
The witness then got out of the room, ran toward the lobby and heard multiple gunshots. He then saw two of the men flee out the back of the building, but didn’t see what direction they went in.
The victim was then found dead.
The aftermath:
Khayre was then identified by the witness in a photo lineup, according to the criminal complaint.
Police say video footage corroborated much of what the witness reported.
Khayre was on conditional release for a suspected carjacking at the time of the shooting, according to the complaint.
The Source: This story uses information gathered from a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County and previous FOX 9 reporting.
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