Vice presidential hopeful Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) acknowledged the white supremacist attacks against his wife, Usha Vance, who is a child of Indian immigrants.
“Look, I love my wife so much. I love her because she’s who she is,” he told host Megyn Kelly on her show Friday. “Obviously, she’s not a white person, and we’ve been accused, attacked by some white supremacists over that. But I just, I love Usha.”
Usha Vance has faced a slew of far-right attacks targeting her Indian heritage following her husband’s nomination to the Republican ticket.
“Who is this guy, really? Do we really expect that the guy who has an Indian wife and named their kid Vivek is going to support white identity?” prominent white supremacist Nick Fuentes said of Vance after former President Trump announced his running mate.
Fuentes was invited to Mar-a-Lago by Trump in November 2022, stirring a firestorm of criticism.
Vance has not publicly condemned the attacks, and in his comments Friday he was more critical of liberal commentators who have blasted his past comments about traditional family and gender roles, calling the criticism “disgusting.”
“She’s such a good mom,” Vance added of his wife. “She’s such a brilliant lawyer, and I’m so proud of her. But yes, her experience has given me some perspective on the way in which it’s really hard for working families in this country.”
Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition working to fight injustice against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, said it observed a flood of racist comments after Usha Vance stepped into the spotlight at the Republican National Convention.
“We are seeing a dangerous pattern of political leaders, conservative commentators, and far-right extremists blatantly targeting South Asians,” the group told Politico.
Vice President Harris, who is half Indian, has also faced racially charged questions about her electability as she has emerged as the likely Democratic candidate against Trump.
“As bigoted attacks against Usha Vance and Vice President Harris grow — including efforts to pit them against each other — it’s clear that the political leaders and others fueling this hate are completely disregarding the safety and wellbeing of Asian American and immigrant communities,” Stop AAPI Hate said.
Vance on Friday also responded to public anger over past comments he made degrading Harris for being “childless.” During the interview, he lauded his own wife for continuing her career with children.
“My own wife is a working mother. You hear leftists say JD wants to keep women in the home. My own wife, I’ve supported her career for my entire life,” he said. “This is about criticizing the Democratic Party for becoming antifamily and antichild.”