Wednesday was an embarrassment of riches for JD Vance haters, but for the vice president, it was just an embarrassment.
And it’s partially due to his wife, Usha Vance.
That’s because two separate clips of the couple went viral for different reasons, neither of which was particularly good for the president’s second-in-command.
One of the clips was from a special Father’s Day edition of Usha’s podcast, “Storytime with the Second Lady,” and showed the vice president awkwardly tapping the knee of the mother of his children, causing her to appear to flinch at his touch.
The other clip, from a June 14 interview with CBS News, shocked many people on social media, as it could be interpreted as Usha taking a subtle jab at her husband’s conversion to Catholicism as an adult, which is the focus of his new book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.”
Usha Vance was raised Hindu, and although her husband has previously said he’d love for her to convert to his faith, her comment on the issue suggested it isn’t going to happen.
Her reasoning came across to some on social media as a not-small helping of shade at the “Hillbilly Elegy” author’s dysfunctional past, which included an impoverished childhood with a mother who struggled with drug addiction.
After CBS reporter Robert Costa asked her if her husband’s journey of faith affected her own, she explained that it’s been more “personal” for him.
“I grew up in a Hindu household that was a very stable household. I have not felt the same need to seek something different that he (JD Vance) has,” she said. “So I think the journey has been more in our relationship, right? Trying to understand where he is, the different ways he’s thinking about things, how that fits into the life that we have together … and less a religious journey of my own.”
The exchange went viral on Wednesday after India Today journalist Shashank Mattoo posted about it on X.
And here are some examples of social media’s interpretation:
You can see the complete interview below with Usha Vance’s comments about her “very stable household” coming around the 1:51 mark.