Vance Defends Comments on His Wife’s Faith

Second Lady Usha Vance, who practices Hinduism, has previously said she does not plan to convert to Christianity. But her husband, Vice President J.D. Vance, expressed this week that he still hopes she may one day share his Catholic faith.

“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,” Vance said during a Turning Point USA event in Mississippi, according to the New York Times.

Usha Vance has not commented publicly on her husband’s remarks, but others have. Members of Hindu and South Asian communities criticized the vice president for suggesting his wife’s faith is less valid, accusing him of showing disrespect toward Hinduism.

The exchange began when an audience member questioned whether Christianity was a requirement for inclusion in Charlie Kirk’s conservative organization. “Why are we making Christianity one of the major things you have to have in common to be one of you guys?” the attendee asked, noting that the vice president’s own wife isn’t Christian and that they are raising their children in an interfaith home.

Vance responded by saying that when he and Usha first met, they both considered themselves agnostic or atheist. “If my wife doesn’t become Christian, God says that everybody has free will, so that doesn’t cause a problem with me,” he said. “That’s something that you work out with your friends, your family, the person you most love.”

Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, said Vance’s remarks came across as dismissive of his wife’s faith. “It’s basically saying that my wife, this aspect of her, is just not enough,” Shukla said, adding that the comments feed existing anxieties among immigrants and non-Christians under the Trump administration.

Vance later defended himself on X, calling some of the criticism “anti-Christian bigotry.” He reiterated his earlier point, writing: “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.”

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