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Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance floated more than doubling the federal child tax credit to $5,000, seeking to reframe a \u201cpro-family\u201d stance that has come under attack from Democrats.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think that you want this massive cutoff for lower-income families, which you have right now,\u201d the Ohio senator and Donald Trump\u2019s running mate said on CBS\u2019s\u00a0Face the Nation<\/em>. He didn\u2019t offer specifics on who would quality if the tax credit were expanded from its existing maximum of $2,000 per child.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s called the child tax credit, and we should expand the child tax credit,\u201d Vance said.<\/p>\n Vance went on three network political talk shows Sunday after a shaky start on the GOP ticket, damaged in part by resurfaced comments in which he belittled Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, as \u201cchildless cat ladies.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Vance, 40, a father of three, has also\u00a0suggested\u00a0<\/a>a lower tax rate for parents than for people without children.\u00a0<\/p>\n His comments drew criticism from both parties. Tomi Lahren, the conservative commentator, blasted the senator on social media in response to the cat lady remarks. \u201cI like JD Vance, but I\u2019m not sure the calculation as VP pick checks out,\u201d Lahren said in a post on X<\/a> on July 25.<\/p>\n Asked Sunday on CNN\u2019s\u00a0State of the Union<\/em>\u00a0about how he would appeal to swing-state voters put off by those remarks, Vance accused the Harris campaign of lying about what he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI criticized Kamala Harris for being part of a set of ideas that exist in American leadership that is anti-family,\u201d he said. \u201cI never criticize people for not having kids.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump defended Vance at a rally in Bozeman, Montana, on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s really stepped up,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI said, you got your sea legs, you know, because the first day they were hitting him with a lot of nonsense.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Pressure on Trump and Vance has heightened since President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid in July. Harris\u2019 emergence at the top of the Democratic ticket and her pick of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as running mate have shaken up the campaign, largely erasing Trump\u2019s lead in many polls. \u00a0<\/p>\n A New York Times and Siena College poll conducted Aug. 5-9\u00a0showed<\/a>\u00a0Harris with 50% support among likely voters in battleground states Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, compared with Trump\u2019s 46% in each state.<\/p>\n Vance skipped a Senate vote on a bipartisan tax\u00a0plan<\/a>\u00a0in early August, prompting attacks from Democrats who accused him of ditching his job to campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n The $78 billion package would have allowed more of the $2,000 tax credit to be paid to those whose income is too low to qualify for the entire credit. Senators weren\u2019t able to reach the 60 votes required to overcome a Republican filibuster.<\/p>\n Vance dismissed the recent tax package vote as a messaging ploy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a show vote,\u201d Vance said. \u201cAnd if I had been there, it would have failed.\u201d<\/p>\n Vance reiterated his support of Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, a Biden appointee who has focused antitrust efforts on big tech companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t agree with Lina Khan on every issue, to be clear, but I think that she\u2019s been very smart about trying to go after some of these big tech companies that monopolize what we\u2019re allowed to say in our own country,\u201d Vance said on CBS.<\/p>\n The comments signal that major tech companies like Alphabet Inc.\u2019s Google<\/a> could continue to face\u00a0legal challenges<\/a>\u00a0under a Trump-Vance administration. The Justice Department already has two pending antitrust cases against the company. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nBig Business<\/h3>\n