Recently, Donald Trump shocked the world by announcing JD Vance as his presidential running mate. Some know Vance as an author and outspoken political activist, but many are now hearing his name for the very first time.
And even most of Vance’s biggest fans don’t know much about his marriage to Usha Vance. Just who is this woman? How did they meet, and how will Vance’s political ambitions affect their relationship? Keep reading to find out!
JD Vance’s rise to fame
JD Vance was a relatively unknown figure until the release of his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy. The book is noteworthy because it goes beyond simply being a “rags to riches” story of personal transformation. It also makes some rather eyebrow-raising claims that what he really had to overcome was a culture of laziness that tried to hold him back and not, you know, regular economic hardships.
That book was enough to make him popular among both liberals who enjoyed the insight into his background of poverty and conservatives who enjoyed the not-so-subtle messaging that everyone needs to pull themselves up by their bootstraps to succeed. However, he has become much more openly conservative over time, earning a Trump endorsement that helped him get elected to the US Senate.
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Getting selected as Donald Trump’s running mate
After winning the presidential election in 2016 and then losing in 2020, Donald Trump finds himself in an interesting place during his recent presidential campaign. He couldn’t have Mike Pence as his running mate again, partly due to flagging support for Pence and partly due to their own disintegrating relationship. Therefore, Trump is in the rare position of running for president a third time and needing to pick a running mate all over again.
Vance represents a relatively safe choice as running mate…someone who can simultaneously appeal to hardcore conservatives as well as liberal-leaning centrists. This is similar to how Kamala Harris was chosen as Biden’s running mate in order to appeal to both female voters and Black voters who might not otherwise vote for Biden. However, the irony of Vance teaming up with Trump is that the senator was once a very staunch critic of the former president.
The irony of Vance teaming up with Trump
These days, JD Vance is a genuine MAGA darling. He has fallen into step with Trump’s view on seemingly everything, which was vital to getting his endorsement and getting elected to the Senate. And, of course, as Trump’s hand-picked VP choice, Vance is more popular with conservatives than ever before.
However, the irony of all of this is that Vance was once one of Trump’s fiercest critics. As CNN reports, the senator once called Trump “a moral disaster,” someone who could very well be “America’s Hitler.” Later, Vance claimed “I regret being wrong about the guy,” but to many, he seems like another sellout politician who will change his views depending on how much money and fame he can accumulate.
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Who is JD Vance’s wife?
Considering how much he has flip-flopped on his politics, perhaps the most relatable thing about JD Vance is his marriage. Usha Vance is basically his college sweetheart and somebody who is very much his intellectual equal. For example, both of them met at Yale Law School, and she had previously served as the managing editor of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology and the executive development editor of the Yale Law Journal.
When they were in college together, Usha teamed up with JD in 2010, forming a group together to study the “social decline in white America.” They got married in 2014, and even as JD Vance has succeeded as a politician, Usha has found immense success as a lawyer who has worked for Munger, Tolles & Olson and even served as a Supreme Court law clerk.
Vance isn’t intimidated by his powerful wife
Donald Trump chose JD Vance as his running mate in part because of his ability to win over conservatives. However, Vance still has a few qualities that separate him from many of the voters he’s trying to win over. For example, rather than being intimidated by having a strong, smart, and independent wife like Usha, he finds their arrangement very refreshing.
This is something he explicitly brought up in an interview on The Megyn Kelly Show. There, he said “I’m one of those guys who really benefits from having sort of a powerful female voice over his left shoulder saying, ‘Don’t do that, do that.'” Implicitly, that means that Usha Vance is fully onboard with his political ambition to become the Vice President.
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Raising a full house
JD Vance and his wife Usha are raising two young children together. Because of that, many have wondered whether possibly becoming Vice President and moving into the White House would disrupt their family dynamic. However, Vance himself remains convinced this won’t happen.
In an interview with Fox News, Vance said, “I love being a dad, and Usha loves being a mom, and I think we love doing that together.” He told the assembled hosts “that’s not gonna change whether Trump picks me to be vice president or not.” Of course, whether or not he even has to worry about this will come down to how voters react to his and Trump’s campaign this November.