Usha Vance Speaks On Indian Hate, Botox, Clothes, And Normalcy

Photo: Instagram

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – Second Lady Usha Vance recently addressed the racism she and her family have faced, particularly in the wake of online hate targeting Indian Americans. When her husband was nominated to be vice president, the MAGA world of Donald Trump exploded online which J D Vance was forced to address.

In an interview with The Free Press, Usha Vance was candid: “Do I think it’s great when people talk about ‘normalizing Indian hate’ or something like that? Absolutely not. I think it’s terrible.”

The controversy also included former DOGE staffer Marko Elez, who had previously posted “Normalize Indian hate” on social media. Though Elez was fired, JD Vance’s support for potentially rehiring him drew sharp criticism, including from Rep. Ro Khanna, who asked, “Are you going to tell him to apologize for saying ‘Normalize Indian hate’ before this rehire? Just asking for the sake of both of our kids.”

Usha, for her part, said she hadn’t followed the entire exchange. But she emphasized what matters most to her and JD. “There is nothing that he cares more about than how his children grow up and how he relates to them and how we live together as a family. He is very, very, very concerned, as we both are, and I think maybe anyone in our position would be, about how this life impacts them,” she said.

Despite being the first Hindu Second Lady, Usha said her experience has been unexpectedly warm. “For what it’s worth, my reception into this world—and I’m not from a particularly wealthy background, not from a very fashion-oriented background personally or professionally—has been really positive,” she said. “People don’t seem to care all that much what I look like.”

Asked what it’s like navigating this world as an Indian American woman, Usha responded with a laugh when the Free Press interviewer mentioned “all the blondes and Botox and facelifts, the low-cut blouses and nine-inch heels.” She quipped, “I’m laughing, because it would be really hard for me to be blonde … that color would look totally absurd,” adding that she prefers to leave her hair natural.

Vance, 39, is a Yale Law graduate, a lawyer, and mother of three. “The day before JD was selected—I did not know he was going to be selected—I was working as a lawyer,” she said. “I had the wardrobe of a person with three children who likes to do things outdoors, who has a dog, who doesn’t like things to be too precious.”

Raised in a family that prioritized academics—her mother a biologist and university provost, her father an engineer—Usha credits her upbringing for instilling resilience and discipline.

Though her husband is now at the center of national politics, Usha said her focus is on something far more grounded. “To me, the highest priority right now is to be actually a normal person,” she said, underscoring her desire to keep their family life as stable and unaffected by politics as possible.