Usha Vance and the Republican Contradiction
The U.S. will have an Indian-origin Second Lady or President. The reactions to both show it might not be ready.
“My parents are Hindu, and that was one of the things that made them such good parents, that makes them very good people,” Usha Chilukuri Vance told Fox News earlier this month. “I’ve seen the power of that in my own life.”
The proudly Hindu, Indian American lawyer-turned-aspiring Second Lady has taken over our screens since July 17, when she introduced her husband, J.D. Vance, Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, at the Republican National Convention. “When J.D. met me, he approached our differences with curiosity and enthusiasm,” she said in her five-minute address. That enthusiasm, Usha added, led her husband — a “meat and potatoes guy” — to adapt to her vegetarian diet and learn to cook Indian food for her mother.
Since her speech, much has changed: Joe Biden has dropped out of the presidential race, Kamala Harris has won over enough delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination, and Usha Vance has become a household name. Come November, America will either have a President or Second Lady of Indian descent. But the country seems prepared for neither.