Amid speculations that the marriage of US Vice President J D Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance could be on the rocks, the latter emerged without her wedding ring, causing a stir online.
Usha was visiting Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps facility in North Carolina, alongside First Lady Melania Trump on Wednesday, when photographers caught her without her wedding band on her left hand. Soon, rumour mills were abuzz that the couple could be heading for a split, and even the social media handle of Democrats took a jibe at Vance “sleeping on the couch.”
However, now the spokesperson of Usha has put to rest all speculations regarding her marital status. “Usha is a mother of three young children, who does a lot of dishes, gives lots of baths, and forgets her ring sometimes,” the spokesperson told People.
Usha and JD Vance have been married since 2014 and share three children: sons Ewan, 8, and Vivek, 5, and daughter Mirabel, 3. The couple, who had put up a united front during the campaign and inauguration, first triggered rumours after Erika Kirk, wife of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, hugged Vance during an event. Erika was seen moving her hand to the back of Vance’s head, and his hands briefly rested on her waist.
The incident went viral after Erika gave a tearful speech, during which she said she sees “similarities” between her late husband and JD while introducing the vice president.
“No one will ever replace my husband. But I do see some similarities between my husband in JD — in Vice President JD Vance. I do. And that’s why I am so blessed to be able to introduce him tonight,” she said.
Vance fuelled further rumours when he said he wished Usha, a Hindu, would convert to Christianity. “As I’ve told her, and I’ve said publicly, and I’ll say now in front of 10,000 of my closest friends: Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved by church? Yes, I honestly do wish that because I believe in the Christian Gospel, and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way,” he told attendees at a Turning Point USA event in Mississippi last month.
