WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Usha Vance, wife of Vice President J.D. Vance and the nation’s first Indian American Hindu Second Lady, is opening up about the racism her family has faced and how she’s navigating life in the political spotlight.
In a recent interview with The Free Press, Vance, 39, addressed the surge of online hate targeting Indian Americans, especially after her husband was selected as Donald Trump’s running mate. Among the most inflammatory incidents was a now-deleted social media post from former Department of Government Ethics (DOGE) staffer Marko Elez, who wrote, “Normalize Indian hate.” Elez was later fired, but Vance’s comment that he might be open to rehiring Elez drew backlash, including from Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna.
“Are you going to tell him to apologize for saying ‘Normalize Indian hate’ before this rehire?” Khanna asked in a post on X, “Just asking for the sake of both of our kids.”
Usha Vance said she hadn’t followed every detail of the controversy but made her views clear. “Do I think it’s great when people talk about ‘normalizing Indian hate’ or something like that? Not. I think it’s terrible,” she said The Free Press.
Despite the challenges, Vance said she has largely felt welcomed in her role. “My reception into this world…has been positive,” she said. “People don’t seem to care all that much what I look like.”
That warm reception has come as a surprise, she admitted, especially given her background. Born to a biologist mother and engineer father, Vance was raised in a family that emphasized education and discipline. A Yale Law graduate, she previously worked as a corporate lawyer and is now a mother of three.
“The day before J.D. was selected—I did not know he was going to be selected—I was working as a lawyer,” she said. “I had the wardrobe of a person with three children who likes to do things outdoors, who has a dog, who doesn’t like things to be too precious.”
She also laughed off expectations of glitz and glamor that often accompany political life in Washington. Asked about the stereotype of “blondes and Botox and low-cut blouses,” Vance quipped, “It would be really hard for me to be blonde … that color would look absurd.”
Instead, she said, her priority remains her family. “There is nothing that [J.D.] cares more about than how his children grow up and how he relates to them and how we live together as a family,” she said. “He is very, very, very concerned, as we both are, and I think maybe anyone in our position would be, about how this life impacts them.”
Even as her husband takes on a central role in a contentious national campaign, Vance said she remains focused on keeping their lives grounded. “To me, the highest priority right now is to be a normal person,” she said.
