From jokes about “childless cat ladies” to calls to get out and vote, the upcoming US presidential election took center stage at this year’s Emmy Awards.

Next Taylor Swift’s Public Show of Support for Kamala Harriswhich mocked Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance’s now infamous comment about “childless cat ladies,” Selena Gomez and Candice Bergen also joked about the comments on stage at the Emmy’s.

Despite the political references heard during the ceremony, not a single reference was made to the latest apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

Gomez, who shared the stage with her Only Murders In The Building colleagues Martin Short and Steve Martin, presented the first award of the evening.

“I just want to tell you what an honor it is to work with two men who are so far from becoming childless cat ladies,” the 32-year-old joked.

Bear star Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who won a Best Supporting Actor award from the trio, thanked his parents during his acceptance speech, saying, “They take such good care of my cat.”

Later, before presenting the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series to Hacks star Jean Smart, Bergen reflected on her own sitcom Murphy Brown.

“I was surrounded by brilliant and funny actors, had the best scripts to work with and in a classic moment my character was attacked by Vice President Dan Quayle when Murphy became pregnant and decided to raise the baby as a single mother,” the 78-year-old said.

“Oh, how far we’ve come. Today, a Republican candidate for vice president would never attack a woman for having children, so as they say, my work here is done.”

Then she added a “meow.”

Mr Vance was criticised for his statements in a 2021 interview with Fox News, in which he said the Democratic Party was run “by a bunch of childless cat ladies”.

After he was announced as Trump’s running mate, the comments reposted by Friends star Jennifer Aniston who used the clip to criticize his opposition to a bill that would make IVF a universal right. He added: “I really can’t believe this is coming from a potential vice president of the United States.”

Elsewhere, Liza Colon-Zayas, who won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her role in The Bear, used her time on stage to encourage people to get out and vote.

“To all the Latinas watching me, keep the faith and vote, vote for your rights,” she said on stage.

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Billy Crudup accepted the award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Morning Show and thanked his wife Naomi Watts, who was also nominated for Feud: Capote vs The Swans.

He stressed that Watts, who is British and grew up in Australia, is “an immigrant”.

And while Sunday’s alleged assassination attempt on Trump was not directly mentioned onstage, host Jon Stewart, who won best talk show for The Daily Show, told reporters that “we live in terrible times.”

He added: “I think the one rule that we could all benefit from when it comes to engagement is don’t shoot. No matter how angry you are, who you don’t like, who you hate, I believe that instituting a don’t shoot policy would be the way to slow things down a bit.”