‘Usha has no plans to convert…’: JD Vance clarifies after backlash over his remarks on wife’s faith

US Vice President JD Vance on Friday rejected criticism that he had thrown the religion of his wife, Usha Vance, under the bus in public and defended his remarks about her Hindu faith, saying she is “not a Christian and has no plans to convert.” After being criticised severely on social media for his comments, Vance responded with a strongly worded post on X and called the backlash against his comments “disgusting” and accused his critics of “anti-Christian bigotry”. “What a disgusting comment, and it’s hardly been the only one along these lines,” Vance wrote, responding to social media users who accused him of disrespecting his wife’s religion.

“First off, the question was from a person seemingly to my left, about my interfaith marriage. I’m a public figure, and people are curious, and I wasn’t going to avoid the question.”

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The response followed intense criticism over his recent remarks at an event, where he said he hoped his wife, Usha, shares his Christian faith eventually. Vance’s comments drew a backlash online for being dismissive of Usha’s Hindu background.

‘Regardless, I’ll continue to love and support her and…’

Defending himself in the post, Vance wrote, “She is not a Christian and has no plans to convert, but like many people in an interfaith marriage, or any interfaith relationship, I hope she may one day see things as I do.”

“Regardless, I’ll continue to love and support her and talk to her about faith and life and everything else, because she’s my wife,” he added.

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Speaking at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Mississippi, the vice president had said that he hoped his wife, Usha, who was raised Hindu, would one day embrace Christianity.

“Most Sundays she will come with me to church. Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly do wish that,” he had said.

Asked during the event whether he hoped his wife would eventually “come to Christ”, Vance replied that faith was deeply personal and that differences in belief had never created conflict in their marriage.

“But if she doesn’t, then God says everybody has free will, and so that doesn’t cause a problem for me. That’s something you work out with your friends, with your family, with the person that you love,” he had added.

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‘Posts like this wreak anti-Christian bigotry’

He further emphasised in his clarification that it was Usha who had inspired him to reconnect with his Christian faith. “My wife, as I said at the TPUSA, is the most amazing blessing I have in my life. She herself encouraged me to reengage with my faith many years ago,” Vance said, and went on to condemn what he described as growing prejudice against Christians.

“Posts like this wreak anti-Christian bigotry,” he wrote.

“Yes, Christians have beliefs. And yes, those beliefs have many consequences, one of which is that we want to share them with other people. That is a completely normal thing, and anyone who’s telling you otherwise has an agenda.”