Vice President JD Vance stumbled upon one of the major controversies of his political career as he spoke at an event of Turning Point USA at the University of Mississippi. Vance came across as a 'Hinduphobic' as he suggested that he would like it very much if his Indian-origin wife Usha Vance embraced Christianity. He said his children are being raised as Christians and the Second Lady too visits the church with the family most Sundays.
"As I've told her and I've said publicly, and I’ll say now in front to 10,000 of my closest friends: Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly do with that. Because I believe in the Christian gospel and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way,” he said.
“If she doesn’t, then God says everybody has free will, so that doesn’t cause a problem for me," Vance said, adding that Usha Vance did not grow up in a particularly religious family. “In fact, when I met my wife… I would consider myself an agnostic or an atheist, that’s what she would have considered herself as well,” he said.
JD Vance called out for being afraid to admit Usha Vance's Hindu origin
JD Vance's statement calling Usha an agnostic and then wishing that he would like her to convert resulted in a major social media storm. People speculated that their marriage is on the rocks and JD Vance is embarrassed by his wife's Indian and Hindu identity.
People shared their Hindu wedding photo and claimed that Usha Vance is not agnostic but Hindu.
"He calls her agnostic. Afraid to admit her Hindu origin. Where has all this talk of religious freedom gone? They have this Congressionally mandated US Commission on International Religious Freedom. Charity should begin at home," former Indian diplomat Kanwal Sibal wrote.
What Usha Vance said about her faith
Recently, Usha Vance made it clear that she's not intending to convert. She said when she met JD Vance, he wasn't a Catholic, and when he converted, they had a conversation about it. Their children as they grow up have the freedom to decide whether they want to be baptized Catholics, she said. On her faith, she said her grandmother is a devout Hindu who does her regular pujas. She said they don't celebrate all Hindu festivals at home but they are in touch with the traditions.
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