JD Vance is breaking his silence on the speculation about his marriage to Usha Vance.
A few weeks ago, the 41-year-old Vice President’s wife fueled split rumors when she noticeably not wearing her wedding ring while visiting a military training facility with First Lady Melania Trump.
The rumors were first sparked in early November when photos of JD embracing Erika Kirk, the widow of right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk, at an event went viral.
In an interview with NBC News published on Friday (December 5), JD addressed the speculation surrounding his marriage to Usha, 39.
Keep reading to find out more…“Our marriage is as strong as it’s ever been,” JD said, adding that he and Usha “get a kick out of” the rumors about their marriage.
“With anything in life, you take the good with the bad,” JD said of the newfound attention surrounding their relationship. “You accept that there are some sacrifices and there are some very good things that come along with it, too.”
He also praised Usha for how she’s adapted to her role as Second Lady of the United States.
“I think Usha’s really taken to it,” JD said. “It’s been kind of cool to see how she’s developed and evolved in this new role.
He also said that he doesn’t think “it’s tough” navigating the rumors about their marriage. He then recalled another recent instance where Usha joked about leaving her wedding ring behind ahead of a public appearance.
“She was like, ‘Oh, if I don’t go back and get them, there’s going to be some ridiculous psycho who talks about it on social media,’” JD recalled. “And I was like, let them. It’s not even worth the trip to run back upstairs. So we actually have a little bit of fun with it. And we thought that whole viral social media cycle was kind of funny.”
JD and Usha married in 2014 and share sons Ewan, 8, and Vivek, 5, along with daughter Mirabel, 3.
Also in the interview, JD said that he and Usha are a bit wary of the attention on their kids.
“I think that there’s always a limelight on the kids, and that’s both good and bad,” JD said. “Our 8-year-old really doesn’t like it. He wants to have as private of a life as possible. When we come to an event in the White House and he sees the cameras, he doesn’t love it, and so we try to keep him out of that limelight as much as possible.”
He added, “On the flip side, our 5-year-old, who’s a little bit more like me — he probably likes it too much. He loves the fact that wherever he goes, people treat him very specially.”
A spokesperson for Usha also recently spoke out to explain why she wasn’t wearing her wedding ring.