Who is Usha Vance, attorney and wife of Trump’s vice presidential pick?
PTC News Desk: During her speech on stage at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, Usha Vance talked about her husband, JD Vance, who was just chosen as the vice presidential candidate, calling him the “most determined person I know”.
“That JD and I could meet at all, let alone fall in love and marry, is a testament to this great country,” she stated to the audience. Mr. Vance’s portrayal of Ohio senator and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s running mate as a man who yearns for a “tight-knit family” humanised the man.
Future Second Lady Usha Vance: “Neither J.D. nor I expected to find ourselves in this position — but it’s hard to imagine a more powerful example of the American Dream.”
FULL REMARKS: pic.twitter.com/JJgdJbem0H
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) July 18, 2024
She gave thousands of spectators more information about her “meat and potatoes kind of guy”—a man who became a vegetarian and learned how to make Indian food for her mother—when she introduced him.
He has stated that Mrs. Vance, 38, has significant influence over her husband’s career even if she does not pursue the political limelight. Mr. Vance has stated that he feels “humbled” by his wife’s impressive resume. Speaking at the Republican convention, Mr. Vance reiterated his earlier compliments about his wife being a “better mom and an incredible lawyer.”
“I believe in JD, and I really love him, so we’ll just sort of see what happens with our life,” she stated in a Fox News interview last month. She reiterated that attitude on Wednesday, saying, “Neither JD nor I expected to find ourselves in this position”.
According to the New York Times, the two first connected as Yale Law School students in 2013 when they joined a discussion group on “social decline in white America.”
The material included in Mr. Vance’s best-selling 2016 novel, Hillbilly Elegy, about his upbringing in the white working-class Rust Belt, served as inspiration for Ron Howard’s 2020 film adaptation of the book.
The 39-year-old Mr. Vance has stated that throughout their time as students at the prestigious university, she was his “Yale spirit guide.”
According to her LinkedIn profile, Mrs. Vance holds an MPhil in early modern history from Cambridge University, where she was a Gates Scholar after earning a BA in history from Yale University.
After getting married in 2014, the pair had three kids: a daughter named Mirabel and two sons named Ewan and Vivek. Born and raised in the suburbs of San Diego, California, Mrs. Vance, née Chilukuri, was the daughter of Indian immigrants.
Her spouse frequently bemoans the “woke” viewpoints that he claims are promoted by Democrats; however, his spouse was once a registered Democrat and is currently employed as a corporate attorney at a San Francisco law firm that takes great pride in its reputation for being “radically progressive.”
At the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Mrs. Vance worked as a clerk for Brett Kavanaugh, who is currently a justice on the Supreme Court. She then worked as Chief Justice John Roberts’ clerk on the Supreme Court. The conservative majority on the top court includes both men.
“Usha definitely brings me back to Earth a little bit,” Mr. Vance stated in 2020 on the podcast for the Megyn Kelly Show. “And I just remind myself that she is way more accomplished than I am if I start to feel a little too arrogant or proud.”
He went on, “People don’t realise just how brilliant she is,” pointing out that she could read a book that was 1,000 pages long in a matter of hours.
He described her as the “powerful female voice on his left shoulder,” offering him direction. Mr. Vance might require her advice more than ever as he prepares for what is sure to be an exhausting White House campaign.