'Usha Was Supportive': When Trump VP Pick Vance Spoke Of How His Hindu Wife Helped Him Find Christian Faith

Ohio Senator and former United States President Donald Trump’s pick as running mate ahead of the presidential elections in November, JD Vance, recently opened up about his journey towards faith and the supportive role of his Hindu wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance.

The senator described his wife as a key part of his success, dating back to when the two attended law school together at Yale University, where Usha Vance also graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree. They were married in Kentucky in 2014, with a Hindu priest presiding over a separate ceremony. The couple has three children together.

A 54-second clip from Vance’s latest Fox News interview is doing the rounds on the internet, which highlights how Usha encouraged Vance in his search for his Christian faith.

“I was never baptised. I was raised Christian but never baptised. I was first baptised in 2018. Usha was actually raised non-Christian. She is actually not Christian. But I remember when I started to re-engage with my own faith, Usha was very supportive.” Vance told Fox News in the latest interview.

When asked why she was so supportive, Usha gave three reasons.

“I did grow up in a religious household. My parents are Hindu. That is one of the reasons why they made such good parents. That made them very good people. And I think I have seen the power of that in my own life. And I knew that JD was searching for something. This just felt right for him,” said Usha Chilukuri Vance.

She also said that they as a couple also agree on family life and how to raise their children.

“And the answer really is, we just talk a lot,” she concluded.

Vance’s life before becoming a senator

In 2016, JD Vance released his bestselling book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which chronicled his childhood in a poor Rust Belt town in eastern Ohio and captured the struggles of America’s White working class. His understanding of the population that turned out to support Trump’s first presidential run made him a frequent guest on cable news programs during Trump’s run and presidency. He was a CNN contributor from 2017 to 2018.

The book was turned into a 2020 Netflix movie starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close.

Once a Trump critic

CNN’s KFile reported last month that Vance liked tweets in 2016 and 2017 that harshly criticized Trump and his policies — including one post speculating that Vance could serve in 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s administration.

Other tweets liked by Vance said Trump committed “serial sexual assault,” called him “one of USA’s most hated, villainous, douchey celebs,” and, in a since-removed set of tweets, harshly criticized Trump’s response to the deadly 2017 White nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia — something Vance now defends Trump over.

Senate

The freshman senator from Ohio won his election in 2022 after receiving Trump’s endorsement out of a pack of better-polling rivals. He was also funded heavily by pro-Trump tech mogul Peter Thiel.

Vance has been a vocal opponent of foreign aid in Congress, opposing legislation to send more aid from the US to Ukraine amid Russia’s war.