When a questioner asked about Usha Vance’s religious background, JD Vance said wife often attends church with him and admitted that he hopes that one day she’ll by “somehow moved” by Christianity like he was.
“As I’ve told her and I’ve said publicly, and I’ll say now in front to 10,000 of my closest friends: Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly do with that. Because I believe in the Christian gospel and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way,” he said.
“If she doesn’t, then God says everybody has free will, so that doesn’t cause a problem for me,” Vance said, adding that Usha Vance did not grow up in a particularly religious family. “In fact, when I met my wife… I would consider myself an agnostic or an atheist, that’s what she would have considered herself as well,” he said.
JD Vance faces backlashJD Vance has embroiled himself in one of the major controversies of his political career as he said he hopes Usha Vance will someday be “moved” by the same things that brought him to convert to Catholicism as an adult. “I honestly do wish that because I believe in the Christian gospel, and I hope eventually, my wife comes to see it the same way,” he said.
JD Vance’s statement calling Usha an “agnostic” and then wishing that he would like her to convert caused an uproar on social media. People even speculated that their marriage is on the rocks and JD Vance is embarrassed by his wife’s Indian and Hindu identity.
Vance’s comments, which were broadcast on Fox News and online by Turning Point, triggered numerous reactions on X. An Indian-American commentator named Deep Barot also weighed in, mocking Vance’s suggestion that his wife was once “agnostic” when she has admitted having been raised in the Hindu tradition.
ALSO READ: Halloween a federal holiday in the US? Here’s what’s open, closed, and the best places to celebrate on October 31
Barot added that Vance was “the biggest hypocrite” for downplaying his wife’s background and would face problems in a potential 2028 presidential run as a result.
Netizens on X also shared their Hindu wedding photo and claimed that Usha Vance is not agnostic but Hindu. “He calls her agnostic. Afraid to admit her Hindu origin. Where has all this talk of religious freedom gone? They have this Congressionally mandated US Commission on International Religious Freedom. Charity should begin at home,” former Indian diplomat Kanwal Sibal wrote.
Another Indian commentator, Nirmalya Dutta, called Vance “a class A hypocrite” for the same reason and noted that the vice president had credited his wife’s faith with reinvigorating his interest in his own.
Transgender activist Ari Drennen, suggested that his remarks could lead to the end of his marriage. “He’s going to be the first Vice President to get Divorced while in office,” she said. For her part, Usha Vance has stated that she has no intention to abandon her family’s faith in favor of her husband’s.
What Usha Vance has said about her faithUsha Vance recently said she does not plan to convert to Catholicism. She explained that when she met JD Vance, he was not a Catholic, and after his conversion, they discussed the matter together. Speaking about their family’s approach to faith, she said their children will have the freedom to decide for themselves whether they want to be baptized as Catholics as they grow older.
Usha also spoke about her own religious background, saying her grandmother is a devout Hindu who continues her daily pujas. While she mentioned that her family does not celebrate every Hindu festival, they remain connected to their traditions.