J.D. Vance argued for higher tax rate on childless Americans: report

Donald Trump's pick for his vice presidential running mate once argued that Americans without children should pay a higher tax rate than those who have children, according to a report.

Trump chose J.D. Vance, a military veteran from Ohio, just before the Republican National Convention. But since that time, there has been a swirl of reports about Vance's prior comments, from his insults aimed at Trump to calling leaders of the Democratic party "childless cat ladies" who have no stake in the future of the country.

Now, a new report says Vance called for childless Americans to pay higher taxes.

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Katherine Faulders, senior reporter covering investigations, Capitol Hill, and politics for ABC News, joined with fellow ABC investigative reporter Will Steakin for the report on Vance.

"JD Vance argued for higher tax rate on childless Americans in 2021 interview," Steakin said Friday. "Vance said the country needed to 'reward the things that we think are good' and 'punish the things that we think are bad' in resurfaced interview."

According to the article, the "unearthed 2021 interview shows the Ohio senator advocating for higher taxes on Americans without children."

"The comments came in a 2021 episode of The Charlie Kirk Show podcast, where Kirk, the CEO of the conservative student organization Turning Point USA, was discussing how Republicans could shift public perception of certain conservative ideas from 'unthinkable' to accepted policy."

The report goes on to provide a transcript in which Vance is asked by Kirk, "What are you going to do to change this conversation?"

"Everything we have to do should be about moving ideas from unthinkable, to sensible, to popular, to policy," the host said.

The report says that, in response, "Vance, who at the time had not yet officially launched his 2022 Senate campaign, suggested that the country needed to 'reward the things that we think are good' and 'punish the things that we think are bad'-- before suggesting that individuals without children should be taxed at a higher rate than those with children."

"So, you talk about tax policy, let's tax the things that are bad and not tax the things that are good," Vance purportedly said. "If you are making $100,000, $400,000 a year and you've got three kids, you should pay a different, lower tax rate than if you are making the same amount of money and you don't have any kids. It's that simple."

See the full ABC report here.