Second Lady Usha Vance said her husband, Vice President JD Vance, confides in her when something is bothering him and that she doesn’t always agree with him on everything. But she noted that the space for dissent allows for “open” conversations, according to NBC News.
She said that while the vice president has a full team of political advisers, he turns to her “when something is bothering him” or “when he really wants to talk about something that he personally feels is more, somehow, more intensely personal or important.”
The second lady described herself as a trusted advisor to her husband, especially on matters of personal importance to him. She explained that they talk often and she tries to understand his priorities and concerns. She emphasized that being aware of what was going on in his life was essential for his wife to provide support.
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“I’m not his employee. I’m not involved in any professional sense. … We don’t expect to see eye-to-eye on everything. We expect to be open and have a conversation and give meaningful input from the perspective of someone who loves him and wants him to always succeed. So even if we don’t agree on the product,” Pátek said, that’s very good.
Will JD Vance run for president in 2028?
Usha noted that her husband’s political future was not a “priority” in their private discussions, despite widespread expectations that he might run for president in 2028.
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“JD is very focused right now on the midterms, all the things that are happening right now that are obviously extremely important. And if you come back in 2027 and you ask me, I’ll have a better idea, you know, what he’s thinking that way. But that’s not a priority in our conversations,” Usha mentioned.
In an interview with NBC News in December, the vice president said he would wait until after the 2026 election to decide whether to run for president.
At the time, JD Vance stated, “I try not to wake up and never think, ‘What does this mean for my future?’ I’m always trying to think of how I can do a good job right now, right? And that’s one of the reasons I’ve tried to steer away from the 2028 conversation. … I never want the focus on the future to come at the expense of this work.”
No ‘pressure’ to be the first second lady who is a Hindu
The second lady, who remained a registered Democrat until at least 2014 and supported the Republican ticket when her husband ran for Senate, was asked about her comfort in today’s political landscape. She has explained that she has never felt compelled to identify with any particular political position, even though her views do not fit neatly into the traditional political spectrum.
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Usha also reflected on her role as the first Hindu second lady, noting that she does not feel any “pressure” due to the distinction.
“Everything about it is so new that in many ways it’s just one element of the new,” she said.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance are expecting their fourth child this summer, marking the first time in modern US history that a vice president has had a child while in office. The last vice president to do so was Schuyler Colfax, who served under President Ulysses S. Grant; he and his wife, Ellen, welcomed their son, Schuyler Colfax III, in April 1870.
