J.D. Vance Defends 'Childless Cat Ladies' Comment

J.D. Vance is trying to claw his way out of the "childless cat lady" controversy ... purr-suading everyone he's not a cat hater, and claiming people totally missed his point.

Donald Trump's running mate appeared on "The Megyn Kelly Show" Friday ... claiming haters are too busy fixating on the sarcasm in his old 2021 comments and not enough on the supposed wisdom he was trying to drop.

The U.S. Senator from Ohio attempted to clear things up ... saying the real point he was trying to make was having kids and becoming a parent was good, and seriously shifts your perspective in a major way.

He said he totally wasn’t critiquing people who choose not to have kids. Instead, he was aiming to criticize the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-kid.

While J.D. insists he's proud to be standing up for traditional parenting, he makes it clear he still wants the government to make family life easier and workplaces more family-friendly. Also, he’s cool with IVF but wants Christian hospitals to run their operations how they see fit.

As we know ... Vance made that controversial comment on Tucker Carlson's show in 2021, calling women like Kamala Harris "childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives" and saying they have "no direct stake" in America.

The throwback clip went viral on social media this week ... days after Trump picked him as his VP -- and Harris' supporters, including celebs like Jennifer Aniston ... as well as Harris' stepdaughter Ella Emhoff, have popped off on Vance over it.