J.D. Vance’s criticisms of professional women – childless cat ladies, or “miserable” women who prioritize careers over children – suggest his own spouse is a model traditional housewife Maybe you are.
Instead, Usha Vanth is the exemplary high-achieving child of Indian immigrants.
Just ask my childhood music teacher, Rose Muralikrishnan. She started taking South Indian classical singing lessons at the age of six.
Muralikrishnan, a California-based musician, is proud of the achievements of his former “brilliant” students, who are now in the spotlight of national politics.
“I thought, ‘That’s my little girl!'” Muralikrishnan said of her reaction when she saw Vance go on stage to introduce her husband at the Republican National Convention in July. speak “I immediately sent a message to her mother.”
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Usha Vance was one of the top students at Yale Law School (according to her classmates). There she met her future husband, J.D., now a congressman from Ohio and Donald Trump’s running mate. She has held prestigious office positions and until July worked as a corporate litigator for a major company.
Campaign officials say she is deeply involved in preparing for Tuesday night’s debate with Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, just as she was considering his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.
More from Tuesday: What are the rules for Vance and Walz’s ‘CBS News Vice Presidential Debate’? See full list
Born Usha Chirkuri to Hindu Indian immigrants, the 38-year-old was born and raised in San Diego. The family had close ties to a close-knit group of Indian professionals, many of whom, including her parents, were university professors.
Her mother, Lakshmi Chirkuri, is the president of the University of San Diego, and her father, an engineer, is an instructor at San Diego State University. Her great-aunt is India’s oldest professor, still teaching physics at a university at 96 years old.
However, Usha Vance, who is registered as a Democrat, is believed to have had President Trump’s involvement in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and is now believed to have the potential to become second lady. It is also a bit of a mystery to those who have been following her changes.
Her husband has undergone a similar evolution, from someone who loves fun over politics to a “never Trumper” and now a vice presidential candidate.
Conversations with the couple’s close friends and advisors, as well as J.D. Vance’s own memoirs, reveal that he has relied heavily on his wife both publicly and privately over the past decade and a half, and that the couple has always been in lockstep. Ta. Their thinking and ideology evolved.
In his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Vance described his wife as his “spiritual guide,” secretly advising him on the proper use of cutlery at lavish dinners, and giving him “a feeling of scorn.” He said that he was a “spiritual guide” who reminded him that things do not bleed.” Feud. ”
Law schools and the evolution of politics
Yale classmate Charles Tyler said he was not surprised that the two hit it off. JD was more outgoing and Usha was more studious and bookish, but both were thoughtful and warm people.
In his memoirs, J.D. Vance said of his future wife, whom he met when he was assigned as a partner on his first major writing assignment: Hardworking, tall and beautiful. ”
Tyler said her thoughtfulness stood out.
“If she (Usha) knew that you had just had a major life event happen and you likely didn’t have much time to spare, she would bring you food or volunteer to help. “I’m the kind of person who walks the house, dog,” he said.
Another classmate at the time, James Eimers, said in an email that despite Usha Vance’s commitment to schoolwork, she remained “acutely aware of what was going on in her friends’ personal lives.” I wrote it.
During his first job interview, Vance asked if he could borrow his Immers tie.
“He ended up choosing my favorite color, purple,” he wrote. “I remember him inadvertently disappearing with that tie for a few weeks until Usha, realizing I needed it again, gently reminded him of it.”
He wrote that Tie, who was briefly kidnapped, became a constant joke between them for the next three years of their school years.
Tyler said that while J.D. Vance was “obviously conservative” during law school, Usha Vance never expressed very strong views on political topics in front of him. .
Vance’s memoir takes readers through his childhood in a working-class neighborhood in Middletown, Ohio. There, Vance barely knew his father, his mother suffered from severe addiction, and he was raised by his grandparents, who had a conflicting marriage.
“He had a rotating cast of stepfathers, who are the real obstacles to people’s success in this world,” Tyler said. “I didn’t think he would be able to go through something like that.”
Usha Vance, who was a registered Democrat until 2014 after graduating from law school, was a member of conservative justices such as Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh during her time as an appellate court judge. Served as a secretary.
“There’s no daylight” between them
Jay Chhabria, a family friend and political consultant, said Usha Vance has great instincts and the couple is “a team in every sense of the word.”
He said she was a “great advisor” who was involved in preparing for the debate and helped shape the answers.
“When he goes out and gives a great speech, she gives him advice and gives him her opinion, and it’s taken seriously,” he said.
When asked what he thought about Trump’s controversial comments, his previous criticisms and his current support for him, he said, “We don’t do anything big without consulting each other.”
“There was a time when I didn’t actually believe that Donald Trump would be a good president,” he said, blaming the media’s portrayal of the former president for influencing his thinking. “And he realized that he was actually a great president, someone who actually improved people’s lives and achieved results.”
Regarding his wife’s support for Trump, he said:
“In today’s politics, there’s no daylight between the two of them.”
In an interview with Fox, Vance said she and her husband had many serious conversations before he announced his candidacy for the Senate in 2021.
“We have three children and the most important thing for us is to give them a stable, normal, happy life and discipline,” she said.
Asked about her reaction to her husband’s comments that the government is run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies,” she defended him in an interview on Fox.
She said she wants people to spend less time considering “this three-word phrase or that three-word phrase.”
“Because what he was really saying was that it’s really hard to be a parent in this country,” she said. “And sometimes our policies are designed to make it even harder.”
republican national convention
Taking to the stage at the Republican National Convention, Usha Vance went for a no-frills look, eschewing glossy makeup and high-definition looks. She wore a simple blue dress, with gray strands peeking out from her shoulder-length hair.
She described her husband as a “working class man who had overcome childhood trauma” which she “barely understood”.
“When JD met me, he approached our differences with curiosity and enthusiasm. He knew everything about me, where I came from, what my life was like. I wanted to.”
She called their unity a testament to “this great nation.”
“He’s a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, but he adapted to my vegetarian diet and learned how to cook Indian food from my mom,” she said.
For music teacher Muralikrishnan, the moment was an exciting one.
“I couldn’t believe where she was standing. She’s so proud of all of us right now,” she said.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is USA TODAY’s White House correspondent. You can follow her at X @SwapnaVenugopal.
