Vice President JD Vance defended his remarks about his wife’s Hindu background after expressing hope she might one day convert to Christianity.
Speaking at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Mississippi, Vance said that while his wife, Usha, “did not grow up Christian,” they agreed to raise their three children in the Catholic faith.
“Our two oldest kids go to Christian school. Our eight-year-old did his first communion about a year ago,” he said. “Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved by in church? Yes. But if she doesn’t, then God says everybody has free will, and so that doesn’t cause a problem for me.”
His remarks drew criticism from interfaith advocates and Hindu groups. Suhag Shukla of the Hindu American Foundation told The New York Times that Vance’s comments implied “this aspect of [Usha] is just not enough.”
Vance, 41, a Catholic convert baptized in 2019, said his remarks align with both his personal faith and his responsibilities as vice president.
“Christians have beliefs,” he later wrote on social media. “One of which is that we want to share them with other people. That is a completely normal thing.”
At the end of the post, the Vice President said, “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.”
The Catholic Church allows mixed marriages but requires pastoral guidance. The Catholic spouse must pledge to remain faithful and “do all in his or her power” to have the children baptized and raised Catholic, while the non-Catholic partner needs only to be informed of that promise.
What a disgusting comment, and it’s hardly been the only one along these lines.
First off, the question was from a person seemingly to my left, about my interfaith marriage. I’m a public figure, and people are curious, and I wasn’t going to avoid the question.
Second, my… https://t.co/JOzN7WAg3A
— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 31, 2025
VANCE OPENS UP: VP speaks on his interfaith marriage with wife Usha
