
Second Lady Usha Vance said that her husband, Vice President JD Vance, confides in her when something is bothering him, and that she doesn’t always agree with him on every issue. However, she noted, having room for disagreement allows for “open-minded” conversations, according to NBC News.
She said although the Vice President has a full team of policy advisers, he turns to her “when something is troubling him” or “when he really wants to talk through something that feels more, kind of, intensely personal or important personally".
The Second Lady described herself as a trusted adviser to her husband, particularly on issues that matter to him personally. She explained that they talk frequently, and she makes an effort to understand his priorities and concerns. She emphasised that, as his spouse, being aware of what’s happening in his life is essential for providing support.
“I’m not his staffer. I’m not involved in this in any professional sense. … There’s no expectation that we are going to see eye to eye on everything. The expectation is that we are going to be open-minded and have a conversation, and that I’ll provide meaningful input from, you know, the perspective of someone who loves him and wants him to succeed. So even if we don’t agree, it’s — I think it’s always very productive," Usha said on Friday.
Usha noted that her husband’s political future isn’t a “priority” of their private discussions, despite widespread expectations that he may run for president in 2028.
“JD is very focused on the midterm elections right now, on all the things that are happening right this moment, which are obviously exceedingly important. And so if you come back in 2027 and ask me, I’ll have a better sense of, you know, what he’s thinking in that way. But that’s not the priority in our conversations,” Usha mentioned.
In a December interview with NBC News, the Vice President stated that he would wait until after the 2026 midterm elections to decide whether to run for president.
At that time, JD Vance stated, “I try to not wake up and ever think, ‘What does this mean for my future?’ I always try to think, ‘How can I do a good job right now,’ right? And that’s one of the reasons why I’ve tried to steer away from the 2028 conversation. … I never want the focus on the future to come at the expense of this job.”
The Second Lady, who remained a registered Democrat at least until 2014 and supported the Republican ticket when her husband ran for Senate, was asked about her comfort in today’s political landscape. She explained that she has never felt compelled to align with any particular policy stance, even when her views don’t fit neatly within the traditional political spectrum.
Usha also reflected on her role as the first Hindu Second Lady, noting that she does not feel any “pressure” because of that distinction.
“Everything about this is so novel that this is just one element of the novelty, in many ways,” she stated.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance are expecting their fourth child this summer, marking the first time in modern US history that a vice president has had a child while in office. The last vice president to do so was Schuyler Colfax, who served under President Ulysses S. Grant; he and his wife, Ellen, welcomed their son, Schuyler Colfax III, in April 1870.
Garvit Bhirani is a journalist based in Gurugram. He is a Deputy Chief Content Producer at LiveMint, where he covers national and international news stories, focusing on accuracy and compelling storytelling for readers. <br><br> With a total of six years of experience in journalism, he has previously worked with Vaco Binary Semantics for Google, taking on the role of news curation lead, and reported from the field on health, education, and agriculture stories for 101reporters and News9. He has also served as a content editor for entertainment and news media organisations. <br><br> Garvit holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and mass communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Gurugram University, respectively. During college days, he joined India’s only non-profit student journalism network, where he anchored daily news updates and produced his own weekly show called ‘Data Fix’. <br><br> He was selected for the YES Foundation Media for Social Change Fellowship in Delhi, the Talking Data to the Fourth Pillar residential workshop, and the VOICE Fellowship in Pune. <br><br> He holds certificates in COVID-19-verification reporting, data journalism, food & agriculture, tech policy, media literacy and countering misinformation, and tackling election disinformation courses from Thomson Foundation, IndiaSpend, The Dialogue, US Mission in India, and AFP. <br><br> He can be reached on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/garvit-bhirani">LinkedIn</a> or on <a href="https://x.com/GarvitBhirani">@garvitbhirani</a> on X
Oops! Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image.